Distributing content by generating and preloading queues of content

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of methods, systems and apparatuses for distributing content by generating and preloading queues of content, are disclosed. One content distribution system includes at least one network content server coupled over one or more communication networks to a plurality of user devices, and a one or more storage elements associated with the plurality of user devices, wherein each of the plurality of user devices is associated with at least one of the one or more storage elements. The at least one network content server includes at least one processor configured to generate a queue of content for each of the plurality of user devices based on parameters of a plurality of available content, and based on storage capabilities of the at least one of the one or more storage elements associated with each of the plurality of user devices, and assist preloading at of least a portion of the queue of content of each of the plurality of user devices to the at least one of the one or more storage elements associated with the user device.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claim priority to Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 61/609,272, filed Mar. 10, 2012, which is herein incorporated byreference.

FIELD OF THE DESCRIBED EMBODIMENTS

The described embodiments relate generally to distribution of content.More specifically, the described embodiments relate to methods, systemsand apparatuses for distributing content by generating and preloadingqueues of content.

BACKGROUND

Digital user devices, communication networks and content choices areproliferating. These devices (for example smartphones, tablet,notebooks, PCs, etc.) come in many different forms, most significantlyin terms of the mobility, UI/display and storage capability.Communication network (for example WiFi, cellular, Ethernet, etc.)parameters change by orders of magnitude in performance and cost. Thecontent available (for example movies, music, games, apps) is also veryheterogeneous in size, formats, cost, etc. The user of a specific userdevice often is interested in access to a specific content over aspecific communications network at a specific time/location. Often thesize of the content or the speed/cost of the communication network makeit impractical to access the content, resulting in lost revenue for acontent provider or a content broker, and results is a dissatisfieduser.

It is desirable to have methods, systems and apparatuses for preloadingdesired and valued content at an appropriate storage element of anappropriate user device for an appropriate user over an appropriatecommunication network.

SUMMARY

An embodiment includes a content distribution system. The contentdistribution system includes at least one network content server coupledover one or more communication networks to a plurality of user devices,and a one or more storage elements associated with the plurality of userdevices, wherein each of the plurality of user devices is associatedwith at least one of the one or more storage elements. The at least onenetwork content server includes at least one processor configured togenerate a queue of content for each of the plurality of user devicesbased on parameters of a plurality of available content, and based onstorage capabilities of the at least one of the one or more storageelements associated with each of the plurality of user devices, andassist preloading at of least a portion of the queue of content of eachof the plurality of user devices to the at least one of the one or morestorage elements associated with the user device.

Another embodiment includes a content broker distribution system. Thecontent broker distribution system includes at least one network contentserver coupled over one or more communication networks to a plurality ofuser devices, and a one or more storage elements associated with theplurality of user devices, wherein each of the plurality of user devicesis associated with at least one of the one or more storage elements.Further, the at least one network content server includes at least oneprocessor operative to obtain storage element value metric informationof the one or more storage elements, generate a queue of content foreach of the plurality of user devices based on parameters of a pluralityof available content, and based on the storage element value metricinformation, and assist a content provider in preloading at least aportion of a queue of content onto one or more of the at least onestorage element associated with the plurality of user devices based onthe storage element value metric information.

Another embodiment includes a method of distributing content over one ormore communication networks. The method includes generating, by at leastone network content server, a queue of content for each of a pluralityof user devices based on parameters of a plurality of available content,and based on storage capabilities of at least one of a one or morestorage elements associated with each of the plurality of user devices,and assisting, by at least one network content server, preloading at ofleast a portion of the queue of content of each of the plurality of userdevices to the at least one of the one or more storage elementsassociated with the user device.

Another embodiment includes a method of a user device receiving contentover one or more communication networks. The method includes receivingover the one or more communication networks a plurality of availablecontent from at least one network content server, generating, asdirected by software operable on the user device, a queue of contentbased on parameters of the plurality of available content, and based onstorage capabilities of one or more storage elements associated with theuser device, and assisting, as directed by the software operable on theuser device, preloading at least a portion of the queue of content tothe one or more storage elements associated with the user device.

Another embodiment includes a program storage device readable by amachine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by themachine to perform a method of distributing content over one or morecommunication networks. The method includes generating a queue ofcontent for each of a plurality of user devices based on parameters of aplurality of available content, and based on storage capabilities of atleast one of the one or more storage elements associated with each ofthe plurality of user devices, and assisting preloading at of least aportion of the queue of content of each of the plurality of user devicesto the at least one of the one or more storage elements associated withthe user device.

Other aspects and advantages of the described embodiments will becomeapparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example theprinciples of the described embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows multiple user devices for accessing content reservoirs overseveral communication networks, which may be improved according toembodiments.

FIG. 2 shows a typical configuration for a user device according to anembodiment.

FIG. 3 shows a typical configuration for a user device 300 with lessfunctionality than user device 100, for an embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows a typical configuration for a distribution server accordingto an embodiment.

FIG. 5 shows a content distribution server and a storage elementaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 6A shows a content distribution server and a storage elementaccording to another embodiment.

FIG. 6B shows a content distribution server and a storage elementaccording to another embodiment.

FIG. 7A shows a content distribution server and a plurality of storageelements according to an embodiment.

FIG. 7B shows a content distribution server and a plurality of storageelements according to an embodiment.

FIG. 8 shows a content distribution server, a storage element and aprocessor associated with the storage element according to anembodiment.

FIG. 9 is a table that includes an example list of relevant user deviceparameters according to an embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a table that includes an example list of communicationnetworks available to the user devices associated with a user accordingto an embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a table that includes an example of relevant parameters for anumber of storage elements available to a user across multiple devicesassociated with a user according to an embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a table that includes an example of a user input tableaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 13 includes an example of a home network with storage manager andcontent manager functionality according to an embodiment.

FIG. 14 shows a preloading system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a table that includes a sample list of content at homereservoir according to an embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a table that includes a sample list of content and parametersat POI reservoir according to an embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a table that includes a sample list of content and parametersat content provider reservoir according to an embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a table that includes value metric information associated toa user to obtain value metric for selecting content to be preloaded ontouser device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a table that includes examples of additional parameters thatmay be used to enhance value metric analysis from a content providerperspective for selecting content to preload for a user with user deviceaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a table that includes another example for value metrics froma content provider perspective for a second user device according to anembodiment.

FIG. 21 is a table that includes an example of an update to parametersand value metrics of FIG. 19 at a later time, where content arecurrently preloaded onto user device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a table that includes an example of an update to parametersand value metrics of FIG. 20 where the content currently preloaded ontouser device is considered for moving to a second storage elementaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 23A includes a list of steps for assisting preloading of contentaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 23B includes a list of steps for assisting preloading of contentaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 24 illustrates 4 different options to utilize a given communicationnetwork that may result in variable cost of content presented to a userdevice according to an embodiment.

FIG. 25 illustrates 3 different options to preload the content from acontent server to a user device over three different communicationnetworks according to an embodiment.

FIG. 26 shows a Content Server and a user device associated with a largestorage and a small storage according to an embodiment.

FIG. 27 is a table that includes a variable price of content preloadedand offered to a user according to an embodiment.

FIG. 28 shows an example for displaying a preloaded ad in a webpageaccording to an embodiment.

FIG. 29 shows a user device and a service provider to assist innotifying of preloaded content according to an embodiment.

FIG. 30 shows a content storage and content ad offer selection/priorityto assist in presenting ads associated with preloaded content accordingto an embodiment.

FIG. 31 shows a user device coupled to a content distribution systemover two communication networks according to an embodiment.

FIG. 32 shows a user device coupled to a content distribution systemover two communication networks according to an embodiment.

FIG. 33 shows a user device coupled to a content distribution systemover two communication networks according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows multiple user devices 100, 101,102 for accessing contentreservoirs 120, 121, 122, 123 over several communication networks 110,111, 112, 115, 116, which may be improved according to embodiments. Userdevices could have very different properties and be utilized indifferent ways by users. For example user device 100, could be a phone,smartphone, PDA, tablet, etc. Examples of relevant parameters of thesedevices are more mobility, long battery life, connectivity to wirelessaccess networks, smaller size, smaller display and smaller storage, etc.For example user device 101, could be a tablet, notebook, netbook,laptop, etc. Examples of relevant parameters of these devices are mediummobility, medium battery life, connectivity to both wireless and wirednetworks, medium size, medium storage and medium display size, etc. Forexample user device 102, could be a PC, home gateway, TV attached toDVR, set top box (STB), etc. Examples of relevant parameters for thesedevices are limited or no mobility, plugged to electrical outlets,connectivity to wired or home wireless networks, bigger size, largestorage, larger displays, etc. Communication Networks also have verydifferent properties and can be utilized in different ways by users.Examples of communication networks include a home network 116 whichcould be wireless home networks, such as personal wireless area network(for example WPAN—Bluetooth, IR, etc.), local wireless area networks(for example WLAN-WiFi, 11 a, 11 b, 11 n, 11 ac, etc.), etc. Typicalparameters are local mobility, medium bandwidth, medium reach orcoverage, medium reliability, very low cost per bit (for example couldbe free), etc. For example home network 115 could be a wired homenetwork, such as Ethernet network, multimedia over cable alliance (MOCA)network, HomePlug (communication over powerline) network, etc. typicalparameters are no mobility, high bandwidth, high reliability and lowcost per bit. Communication networks could also be Access networks. Forexample Access network 110 could be a wired copper or cable broadbandconnection, such as ADSL, VDSL, DOCSIS or a fiber connection. Typicalparameters are no mobility, medium to high bandwidth, medium to highreliability, flat fee per month of usage. For example access network 110could also be a fixed wireless broadband connection, such as WiMAX.Typical parameters could be limited or no mobility, medium bandwidth,medium reliability, etc. For example access network 111 could a wirelessmobile network, such as 2G/3G/4G, GPRS, edge, HSPA, EVDO, LTE, etc.Typical parameters are high mobility, large coverage, low to mediumbandwidth, low to medium reliability, flat monthly fee with or withoutlimits or relatively high cost per bit, etc. For example a communicationnetwork could be a POI Access network 112. A POI could be a work office,coffee shop, restaurant, grocery store, department store, airport,school, government building, etc. each of these POI could have a accessnetwork to provide valuable content to user devices. Typically these POIaccess networks are WLAN such as WiFi networks, but could be WPAN,Ethernet, etc. examples of typical parameters comprise medium bandwidth,medium reliability, local mobility, free access, one time or limitedsubscription, etc. User devices communicate over these communicationnetworks to access content provided by one or more content providers,for example content providers 130 and 131, which store their content atone or more content providers, for example content provider reservoir122 and 123. Content stored at these content provider reservoirs couldinclude movies, sport events, shows, videos, photos, music, musicvideos, news, books, audio books, ring tones, games, software programs,software updates, apps, etc. the user devices may obtain content fromone content provider or multiple content providers. Each contentprovider may have one type of content of multiple types of content.Additionally content may be stored at POI reservoir 121 associated withPOI access network 112 to help the user device access content. For theembodiments described here, a POI reservoir 121 can be a storage element(or intermediate storage element) associated with one or more userdevices. Furthermore content may be stored at home reservoir 120 to helpthe user device access content. For the embodiments described here, ahome reservoir 120 can be a storage element (or intermediate storageelement) associated with one or more user devices. To help the userdevices to access content, a content broker 140 manager may beadvantageous. The content broker 140 could have access to relevantinformation from multiple users, multiple user devices, multiple storageelements, multiple communications networks, multiple content providersand multiple content for a more efficient, profitable and improved usersatisfaction content consumption.

Problems with Consuming Content

A user of a user device may want to access content at any time and atany location. At some locations the user device may only have access tocontent over an expensive or low performance communication networkrelative to the desired content parameters. For example the user maywant to view a 500 MB movie that requires a sustained 1 Mb/secconnection on a mobile user device (for example a tablet) over acellular wireless communication network with a 200 MB/month data plan orover a wireless communication network with a peak rate of 10 Mb/sec perchannel that is shared over multiple users in a cell. The movie maystart showing while it is downloading (for example streaming), but thenthe movie will likely pause as other user devices share the wirelesscommunication network, thus providing an unsatisfactory viewingexperience. The problem of delayed and paused viewing is compounded whenthe movie is longer in length.

A user could proactively download content onto storage (for embodimentsthe storage is a storage element of the described embodiment) of theuser device ahead of time, but then the user would have to plan ahead orsearch for content that may be desirable. Also, downloading the clipsover and expensive communication network can take a lot of preciousbandwidth, which can be costly.

In an embodiment these problems are avoided by allowing content to bepreloaded to the storage on a user device.

In an embodiment a tradeoff is made between one or more of acommunication network resources or one or more storage resources so thatcontent can be preloaded in to the appropriate storage element for animproved user content service offering. In an embodiment thecommunication network is utilized when resources are available, lowercost, not busy (off peak hour). In an embodiment the storage manager ora content manager can preload the user device storage or associatedstorage (for example a nearby gateway storage or intermediate storageelement) with the most likely (or most valuable, etc.) content that userwill end up consuming.

In an embodiment a user will have a much better content consumingexperience if the content is available immediate or near-to-immediate.

User Devices

FIG. 2 shows a typical configuration for a user device 100 for anembodiment. It includes a communication bus 220 (it is to be understoodin at least one embodiment that communication bus 220 is at least one ofthe communication networks of the described embodiments), connected tomultiple hardware or software modules. Many other configurations arepossible, with additional modules or without some of the modules. Themodules included in FIG. 2 are a processor 201, a RAM 202, a userinterface 208 to exchange information and/or content with the user, astorage 204 which includes software programs, content from the user,etc. and content storage 205, which includes the content originatingfrom the content provider reservoir 122, a storage manager device 206for managing the storage elements of the content storage 205, a contentmanager device 207 for managing the content elements of the contentstorage 205, a content downloader 203, for downloading the content fromthe reservoir onto the content storage 205. Mover the user device 100includes one or more modems to exchange content over one or morecommunications networks. The one or more modems comprises one or more ofa dial-up/DSL modem 216, an Ethernet modem 215, an WPAN modem 214, aWLAN modem 213 and a WWAM modem 212. The user device communicates withthe content provider over a service control plane to the content managerdevice 207 and a traffic plane over the appropriate modem for theassociated communication network.

FIG. 3 shows a typical configuration for a user device 300 with lessfunctionality than user device 100, for an embodiment. FIG. 3 includes acommunication bus 220 (it is to be understood in at least one embodimentthat communication bus 220 is at least one of the communication networksof the described embodiments), connected to multiple hardware orsoftware modules. The modules included in FIG. 3 are a processor 201, aRAM 202, a user interface 208 to exchange information and/or contentwith the user, a storage 204 which includes software programs, contentfrom the user, etc. and content storage 205, which includes the contentoriginating from the content provider reservoir 122, a device agent 306(which may include a subset of the functionality included in contentmanager device 207 or storage manager device 206), a content downloader203, for assisting preloading the content from the reservoir onto thecontent storage 205. Mover the user device 300 includes one or moremodems to exchange content over one or more communications networks. Theone or more modems comprises one or more of an WPAN modem 214, a WLANmodem 213 and a WWAM modem 212. The user device communicates with thecontent provider over a service control plane to the content managerdevice 207 and a traffic plane over the appropriate modem for theassociated communication network.

Distribution Server

FIG. 4 shows a typical configuration for a distribution server 400according to an embodiment. For the description here, the terms contentdistribution server and network content server may be usedinterchangeably to represent the distribution server 400. Thedistribution server 400 includes a communication bus 420 (it is to beunderstood in at least one embodiment that communication bus 420 is atleast one of the communication networks of the described embodiments),connected to multiple hardware and/or software modules. Many otherconfigurations are possible, with additional modules or without some ofthe modules. The modules included in FIG. 4 are a processor 401, a RAM402, a server user interface 408 to exchange information and/or contentwith a server administrator, manager, etc., a storage 404 which mayinclude software programs, content, value metric information, etc. andcontent storage 405, which may include content originating from thecontent provider, ad provider, a storage manager server 406 for managingthe storage elements of the content storage 405, a content managerserver 407 for managing the content elements of the content storage 405,a content downloader 403, for downloading the content from a reservoiror content storage 405 or one or more storages associated with userdevices. Moreover the distribution server may include one or more modemsto assist in preloading content over one or more communicationsnetworks. The distribution server 400 may be part of a server provideror content provider or content broker, etc. platform. The distributionserver 400 may be part of a service provider or content broker platformand communicate with the content provider over a service control and thecontent manager device 407 over the appropriate modem for the associatedcommunication network.

Embodiments of Content Distribution

FIG. 5 shows a content distribution server 503 and a storage element 501according to an embodiment. For this embodiment, the contentdistribution server 503 manages a plurality of content 504. The contentdistribution server 503 determines a value metric based on a function ormodel of one or more value metric parameters or cost parameters. Thevalue metrics parameters are based on, for example, parameters of theplurality of content, parameters associated with the storage element501, and/or parameters associated with a communications network betweenthe content distribution server 503, the storage element 501 and a userdevice associated with the storage element 501.

This embodiment further includes the content distribution server 503selecting a content from the plurality of content 504 based on the valuemetric. Once selected, the content distribution server 503 preloads atleast a portion of the content to the storage element 501 as directed bya service provider over the communications network.

For an embodiment, the service provider is a content broker thatprovides distribution of content for a content provider. For anotherembodiment, the service provider is the content provider as well as thecontent distributor. The service provider selects the content, andassists preload of the at least the portion of the content by directlypushing the at least a portion of the content to the storage element 501over the communication network.

Once the content is preloaded to the storage element 501, any number ofuser devices can assess and consume the preloaded content. For anembodiment, the storage element 501 is included within a user device.

FIG. 6A shows a content distribution server 605 and a storage element501 according to another embodiment. For this embodiment, the contentdistribution server 605 manages a plurality of content 604. The contentdistribution server 605 determines a value metric based on a function ormodel of one or more value metric parameters or cost parameters.

For this embodiment, the service provider is a content broker thatprovides distribution of content for a content provider 606. For thisembodiment, the service provider selects the content, and assistspreload of the at least the portion of the content by assisting thecontent provider 606 to push the at least a portion of the content tothe storage element 501 over the communication network.

FIG. 6B shows a content distribution server 605 and a storage element501 according to another embodiment. For this embodiment, the contentprovider 605 manages a plurality of content 604. The contentdistribution server 605 determines a value metric based on a function ormodel of one or more value metric parameters or cost parameters.

For this embodiment, the service provider is a content broker thatprovides value metric information or content selection services (lists,queues, pointers, etc.) to a content provider 607. For this embodiment,the service provider assists preload of content and the content provider606 pushes the at least a portion of the content to the storage element501 over the communication network.

FIG. 7A shows a content distribution server 705 and a plurality ofstorage elements 701A, 701B, 701C according to an embodiment. For thisembodiment, the content distribution server 705 broadcasts at least asubset of the plurality of content. The storage elements 701A, 701B,701C receive the broadcast content over the communications network.

Each of the storage elements 701A, 701B, 701C has one or more associatedprocessors (either directly, or indirectly through an associated userdevice). At least one of the associated processors includes software (inat least some embodiments, the software is provided by the serviceprovider) that is operative to select a content from the plurality ofbroadcast content based on the value metric. For an embodiment the valuemetric is determined at the storage elements, for other embodiment thevalue metric is or could it be provided to the storage elements and forother embodiments the value metric is determined jointly by the storageelements and a processor associated to a distribution server. Once thecontent has been selected, one or more of the storage elements 701A,701B, 701C, preloads at least a portion of the selected content asreceived from the content distribution server 705 broadcasts. Thecontent distribution server 705 may also determine a value metric toselect a subset of the plurality of content 704 to be broadcast. Thevalue metric may be based on one or more of the storage elements 701A,701B, 701C, the content, user devices associated to the storageelements, users associated to the user devices associated to the storageelements, the communication network, etc.

FIG. 7B shows a content distribution server 707 and a plurality ofstorage elements 702A, 702B, 702C according to an embodiment. For thisembodiment, the content distribution server 707 multicasts at least asubset of the plurality of content. The storage elements 702A, 702B,702C can receive the multicast content over the communications network.For one embodiment, the multicasts are only received by storage elements702A, 702B that have been approved to receive the multicasts. Foranother embodiment, the storage elements 701A, 701B, 701C each receivethe multicasts, but only storage elements 701A, 701B that have anencryption key are able to load the content of the multicasts. Thecontent distribution server 707 may also determine a value metric toselect a subset of the plurality of content 704 to be multicast. Thecontent distribution server 707 may also determine a value metric toselect a subset of the storage elements 702B, 702C to target to receivea multicast. The value metric may be based on one or more of the storageelements 701A, 701B, 701C, the content, user devices associated to thestorage elements, users associated to the user devices associated to thestorage elements, the communication network, etc.

Each of the storage elements 701A, 701B, 701C (or 702A, 702B, 702C) hasone or more associated processors (either directly, or indirectlythrough an associated user device). At least one of the associatedprocessors includes software (in at least some embodiments, the softwareis provided by the service provider) that is operative to select acontent from the plurality of broadcast content based on the valuemetric. For an embodiment the value metric is determined at the storageelements, for other embodiment the value metric is or could it beprovided to the storage elements and for other embodiments the valuemetric is determined jointly by the storage elements and a processorassociated to a distribution server. Once the content has been selected,one or more of the storage elements 701A, 701B, 701C, preloads at leasta portion of the selected content as received from the contentdistribution server 705 multicasts.

FIG. 8 shows a content distribution server 803, a storage element 801and a processor 810 associated with the storage element 801 according toan embodiment. For this embodiment, the processor includes software thatis operative when executed to select a content from the plurality ofcontent based on the value metric. Once selected, at least a portion ofthe selected content is pulled by the storage element 801 from thecontent distribution server 803 over the communication network, andloaded onto the storage element 801. For at least one embodiment theuser device receives over the communication network informationassociated with the plurality of content. For at least one embodimentthe user device receives over the communication network informationassociated with the plurality of content from the content distributionserver 803.

Distribution of Queues of Content

An embodiment includes a content distribution system. The contentdistribution system includes at least one network content server coupledover one or more communication networks to a plurality of user devices,and a one or more storage elements associated with the plurality of userdevices, wherein each of the plurality of user devices is associatedwith at least one of the one or more storage elements. The at least onenetwork content server includes at least one processor configured togenerate a queue of content for each of the plurality of user devicesbased on parameters of a plurality of available content, and based onstorage capabilities of the at least one of the one or more storageelements associated with each of the plurality of user devices, andassist preloading at of least a portion of the queue of content of eachof the plurality of user devices to the at least one of the one or morestorage elements associated with the user device.

An embodiment further includes the network content server receivingselections of the queue of content from at least one of the plurality ofuser devices, and the network content server completing a transactionwith a user of the at least one of the plurality of user devices.

An embodiment further includes the network content server operative tocompile analytics of at least one user of at least one of the pluralityof user devices, and wherein generating the queue of content for the atleast one of the plurality of user devices is additionally based on thecompiled analytics.

For an embodiment, generating the queue of content for each of theplurality of user devices is further based on information associatedwith other content available on the at least one of the one or morestorage elements associated the user device. For an embodiment,generating the queue of content for each of the plurality of userdevices is further based on information associated with at least onecommunication network assisting in the preloading the at least theportion of the queue of content, or the information of at least one ofthe one or more storage elements associated with the user device. For aspecific embodiment, the information associated with the at least onecommunication network comprises a communication network cost ofpreloading the at least the portion of the queue of content. For anotherspecific embodiment, the information of at least one of the one or morestorage elements comprises a storage element cost of storing thepreloaded queue of content.

For an embodiment, generating the queue of content for each of theplurality of user devices is further based on information associatedwith at least one of the one or more communication networks assisting inpresenting at least a portion of the queue of content at one or more ofthe plurality of user devices. For a specific embodiment, theinformation associated with at least one of the one or morecommunication networks comprises a communication network cost ofpresenting at least a portion of the queue of content.

An embodiment further includes the at least one network content serverdetermining an association of the one of the one or more storageelements with a second plurality of user devices, and wherein generatingthe queue of content for each of the plurality of user devices isfurther based on the plurality of user devices or a plurality of usersassociated with the second plurality of user devices. An embodimentfurther includes the at least one network content server determining anassociation of one of the one or more storage elements with two or moreof the plurality of user devices, and wherein generating the queue ofcontent for each of the two or more user devices is further based on thetwo or more user devices or a plurality of users associated with the twoor more user devices.

An embodiment further includes the at least one network content serveror a processor associated with at least one of the one or more storageelements assisting in deleting of at least a portion of a second contentavailable on the at least one storage element. An embodiment furtherincludes the at least one network content server or a processorassociated with a first or a second storage element of the one or morestorage elements associated with the user device, assisting in moving atleast a portion of a second content available on the first of the one ormore storage elements associated the user device to the second or theone or more storage elements associated with the user device.

An embodiment further includes the at least one network content serveror a processor associated with at least one of the one or more storageelements preloading the at least the portion of the content to the atleast one of the one or more storage elements. The preloading the atleast the portion of the content to the at least one of the one or morestorage elements includes classifying each of the one or more storageelements based on parameters of the plurality of available content,based on the storage capabilities, and based on a plurality of userparameters, and generating the queue based on the classifications.

An embodiment further includes the at least one network content serveror a processor associated with at least one of the one or more storageelements assisting in presentation of information related to the queueof content to a user device of the plurality of user devices associatedwith the at least one of the one or more storage elements.

An embodiment further includes the at least one network content serveror a processor associated with at least one of the one or more storageelements obtaining information associated with a value metric for atleast one of the plurality of available content based on priorpreloading of the content, and evaluating interaction with the preloadedcontent, wherein generating the queue of content for each of theplurality of user devices is further based on the value metric.

An embodiment further includes the at least one network content serveror a processor associated with at least one of the one or more storageelements operative select a first plurality of storage elements, preloadat least a portion of the queue of content onto the first plurality ofstorage elements, wherein the first plurality of storage elements areassociated with a first plurality of user devices, and obtaininformation associated with a value metric from the at least a portionof the queue of content preloaded onto the first plurality of storageelements, wherein generating the queue of content for each of theplurality of user devices is further based on the value metric.

For an embodiment, the queue of content includes an advertisement.Further, the at least one network content server or a processorassociated with at least one of the one or more storage elements isoperative to select the advertisement, and assist in presentation of theadvertisement to at least one of the plurality of user devices.

For an embodiment, a cost for consuming at least a portion of the queueof content is based on a cost parameter associated with at least one ofthe one or more storage elements or a communication network.

An embodiment includes allowing a user to access an additional portionof the content, wherein the additional portion of the content inconjunction with the at least a portion of the content allows the userto consume the content. For a specific embodiment, the additionalportion comprises a security element, wherein the security elementallows the user to consume the content.

An embodiment includes associating business rules to the content,wherein the business rules of the content influence the contentconsumption.

User Device Parameters

FIG. 9 is a table that includes an example list of relevant user deviceparameters with example values of total storage size in gigabytes,display size in inches, display resolution, available modems and weatherthe device is use by a single user or shared by several members of agroup (for example family, work, etc.) according to an embodiment. Forthis example, the total amount of storage available is about 100× higherfor the home gateway or network attached storage than for thesmartphone. For this example the display of the TV has about 100× morearea and about 4× more pixels than the smartphone. The smartphonenetwork access speed could vary between peak rates of 100 s of Kbps whenconnected to a 2G access network to 10 s of Mbps when connected to a lowend WLAN modems and 100 s of Mbps when connected to high end (forexample MIMO and/or channel bonding) WLAN modems. The cost of thecommunication access could vary between $20/GB and completely free.Clearly this is a very heterogeneous set of devices that a user mayconsume valuable content with.

Communication Networks Available to User Devices

User devices may access content over a plurality of communicationnetworks based on the available modems in the user device, the availablenetworks at a given time and the parameters (wherein parameters may beinformation) of the communication network (for example speed, cost, QoE,etc.). FIG. 10 is a table that includes an example list of communicationnetworks available to the user devices associated with a user accordingto an embodiment. FIG. 10 also includes an example list of relevantparameters associated with the communication networks. A list ofrelevant parameters may include: an ID number, speed or bandwidth of thecommunication network (for example minimum speed, typical speed, maximumspeed, statistics of the speed, QoS, QoE, etc.), monthly rate for accessto the communication network service, a maximum usage per month, a costof usage above the maximum usage, if the network is associated to asingle user or a multiuser, and connectivity or coverage details, etc.For example user 1010 has access to a communication network such as homewireless 1000 within nominal speed of 50 Mbps, no monthly rate, no limiton maximum usage, no cost above the maximum usage, it is multiuser, itscoverage area is the home, etc. For example user 1010 also has access toa communication network such as cellular 4G roaming network 1004, withnominal speed of 0.5 Mbps, a monthly rate of $5 which does not includeany free usage per month, a cost of $50 per gigabyte, associated to asingle user typically used at work, etc. For example user 1010 also haveaccess to a communication network such as a POI WLAN #1, with ID 1005,with a nominal speed of 25 Mbps, no monthly rate, no max usage permonth, 0 cost per byte, intended for multiple users, is located at acoffee shop, etc. Other examples can be derived from the FIG. 10, andmany other combinations are possible.

Based on this example table, for example home wireless network (forexample WiFi) provides a fast and low cost method to obtain contentwhile at home. This may be the preferred method for deliveringmoderately large content to portable devices at home. For examplecellular 4G roaming provides a moderately slow and very expensive methodto obtain content while on the road, for example traveling abroad. Thismay be the preferred method to obtain time critical, small content whiletravelling.

In addition, a user device may have no communication network availableat a given time. For example, a mobile user device with WiFi-onlyconnectivity away from a home network or a WiFi hotspot, or a mobileuser device in an airplane without WiFi may have no communicationnetwork available.

Moreover the communication network available may not have the bandwidthor reliability to support content desired by the user. In an embodiment,content may be preloaded that cannot reliably be consumed over thecommunication network. For example, HD video content for a large screenTV may require 4 Mbps for a reliable streaming (for example real-time).The communication network such as home broadband access network 110 maynot be able to sustain 4 Mbps over the duration of the video. Forexample, HD video content for smart phone may require 0.5 Mbps for areliable streaming (for example real-time). The 4G access network 111may not be able to sustain 0.5 Mbps over the duration of the video.

Clearly this is a very heterogeneous set of communication networks thata user may access content with and active management of the content overthe communication networks could results in greatly improved value.

Storage Elements Associated to User Devices

FIG. 11 is a table that includes a list of example relevant parameters(wherein parameters provide a representation of the capabilities of thestorage elements) for a number of storage elements available to a useracross multiple devices associated with a user according to anembodiment. A user may own one or more storage elements included indevices, such as of a smartphone, a tablet, a notebook, a PC, a HomeGateway, etc. An example user in FIG. 11 may include flash in smartphone A, flash in tablet A, HDD in notebook A, HDD in PC A, HDD in homegateway or set top box (STB) A, HDD in network attached storage (NAS) A,which are listed under the column “Name” in FIG. 11. An example oftypical relevant information or value parameters for storage elementsare total storage size, available storage, storage reserved for content(for example the latter could be a parameter set by a user) andavailable storage reserved for content. In addition, list of modemsavailable to each storage element, lists of what storage elements areconnected to each other and the communication network could be veryvaluable to share the storage across user devices for users consumption.In addition statistical parameters of each connection, such as number ofhops, end to end bandwidth, QoS, QoE, reliability vs. time may bevaluable. In an embodiment, based on a subset of these parameters orother parameters, the storage elements could be classified (for exampleinto tiers or levels) to better manage the storage element and the flowof content between the storage element and the user. In at least oneembodiment classification comprises one or more of placing into tiers,ranking, identifying, clustering, characterizing, categorizing.

For example, the Home Gateway may include several modems and networkingcapabilities (communication network parameters), such as a xDSLbroadband access network connection, a WLAN modem to connect tomobile/portable devices (for example smartphone, tablet, notebook) and aSOHO Ethernet switch with several ports to connect to wired devices (forexample Network-Attached Storage, PC, STB, notebook).

For example, the HDD in the home Gateway currently has an ID number1015, 256 GB of total storage, of which 75% is available, 50% of thestorage has been reserved for content, has been assigned tier #1relative to a user device, is one communication network hop from smartphone A, is zero communication network hops from home Gateway A, iscurrently connected to a home WiFi and a broadband xDSL connection. TheHDD in the home Gateway is currently associated with device IDs 1011,1012, 1013, 1014, 1015, 1016 over one or more communication networks.Many of these value parameters may change over time.

Content and Plurality of Content

A content (it is to be understood that reference to ‘content’ mayrepresent a selectable element of a plurality of content) includes anydata a user may want to consume (for example install or play a videogame content, watch a movie or video content, view a photo content, reada book content, listen to a song content, install or execute a softwareprogram, app or update, open a file content, browse or read a web pagecontent, read an email content, etc.) or share with other users.Examples are movies, sport events, shows, videos, photos, music, musicvideos, news, web pages, books, audio books, ring tones, games, softwareprograms, software updates, apps, etc. Available content is veryheterogeneous in many different parameters. For an embodiment, it couldbe visual (for example photos), audio (for example music) or visual andaudio (for example movies, sporting event, musical videos, games). Foran embodiment, it could be streamed during consumption (for example,live TV) or it may need to be fully or partially preloaded prior to use(for example games, photos, software). It may be short or long, it maycome in different formats (for example an audio stream is compressedusing an audio codec such as MP3, Vorbis or AAC or a video stream iscompressed using a video codec such as H.264 or VP8) for different userdevices (for example HD TV vs. smartphone) and or in different formatsfor the same device (for example SD vs. HD). It may have very differentsizes relative to the communication network bandwidth (for examplelarge, medium or small). It may require different QoS parameters for asatisfied user QoE consumption. Relative to the content provider, it maybe free, or have a per use licensing fee or a content group licensingfee or a per time period fee. Relative to the user, it may be free, freewith sponsoring ads, or have a per use fee or a per time period fee.FIG. 17 is a table that shows some examples of tabulated contentavailable at a content provider with some example content parameterslisted.

Many of this large heterogeneous set of content elements (or pluralityof content) available could be preloaded onto the storage associatedwith a user device and consumed at a convenient time for the user at theappropriate user device.

Storage Manager

For an embodiment, storage elements associated with user devices is aprecious resource just like bandwidth, computing and battery power andmay be managed to provide enhanced value to the user/s. The table inFIG. 11 includes an example of storage elements and an example ofparameters that may be helpful to a storage manager (or a contentmanager, etc.).

The storage manager may include several functionalities to help managethe storage resources (for example, storage elements) associated withuser devices from a user or a group of users.

The storage manager may reside at one or more locations. FIG. 13includes an example of a home network with storage manager and contentmanager functionality according to an embodiment. For an embodiment, thestorage manager could be included at the user device 102 as a storagemanager device 1302 (in an embodiment a storage manager is includedwithin a device agent and operable on a processor in a user device), orreside at a centralized location associated with the user and manageseveral user devices, such as a home gateway as a storage manager home1304, or may reside at the content provider 131 as a storage managerserver 1306. Alternatively or in addition, the storage manager servermay also reside at a content broker that manages content of a pluralityof content providers for a plurality of users. In an embodiment thestorage manager resides at a content distribution server. The storagemanager may have a master/slave, server/client, centralized ordistributed configurations to manage storage of the plurality of userdevices. For an embodiment, a storage manager could be a softwareprogram or an app. The storage manager could be implemented in hardwareor software or both hardware and software. Storage Managers 1302, 1304,1306, may have access to information 1320, comprising one or more ofuser profile, user preferences, user history, user state (location,leisure mode, time, etc.). The content manager may have a master/slave,server/client, centralized or distributed configurations to managecontent of the plurality of user devices.

Storage Manager Discovery Function

A storage manager server, storage manager home or storage managerclient, etc. may be installed at one or more of the user devices. Duringpower-up or first time initialization the storage manager discoveryfunction may identify available storage elements associated to the userdevices that the user may access for content. For an embodiment thestorage manager discovery function includes initializing a table such asFIG. 11. For an embodiment, the storage manager discovery functionincludes one or more of searching for a list of storage elements,assigning them a name or an ID, fetching the storage location, storagesize, storage type (for example HDD, Flash, etc.), storage access time,storage available or free storage, and how this storage is connected toa user device. A storage element may be located inside a user device,for example through a communication network such as a data communicationbus, or may be connected through one or more modems over one or morecommunications network to other user devices. A storage element mayrequire multiple communication network hops to be connected to a userdevice. Communication network connectivity parameters of interest to thestorage manager between the one or more storage elements and the one ormore user devices could include one or more of: modem type (for exampleWiFi, Ethernet, etc.), statistical parameters of the connection (forexample max, min, typical bandwidth, etc.), QoS parameters, otherapplications using the connection, users sharing the connection,reliability of the connection, latency, number of hops, etc. For theembodiment in FIG. 11, the storage manager discovery function couldidentify a flash of Smartphone A has an ID of 1011, a total storagecapacity of 32, of which 50% is currently available. The flash storageelement is coupled to modems that enable connectivity to cellular andWiFi networks. For this embodiment, at the time of discovery the flashstorage element could communicate with storage elements 1014 (forexample the smartphone is connected to the PC through a fast and lowcost USB port) and 1015 (for example connected to home gateway throughthe WiFi) and 1016 (for example connected to home gateway through theWiFi and the home gateway is connected to Network-Attached Storagethrough Ethernet).

For this embodiment, the storage manager discovery function determinesthat the user device Smartphone A is 0 communication hops away from therelatively small Flash in Smartphone A, one communication hops from thelarger storage in PC A, and two communication (link) hops away thelargest storage in Network-Attached Storage. For this embodiment, thesmartphone A is connected to the Network-Attached Storage over twosequential communication network hops. For this embodiment, thecommunication network connectivity performance will be determined by theaggregate of these two sequential, serial or cascaded links. For anembodiment with two sequential communication network hops, the overalllatency will be larger than or equal to the sum of each link latency andthe overall bandwidth will be less than or equal to the lower bandwidthcommunication network link bandwidth and the QoS, QoE, will be limitedby the worse of the two links.

In an embodiment, there may be two or more communication networks or oneor more communication networks with more than one path between a userdevice and a storage element. For an embodiment, each of thecommunication paths could be managed (for example monitored, logged,etc.) independently with associated parameters for each of thecommunication network paths. For an embodiment each of the communicationnetwork paths could be used to transfer content more efficiently basedon content parameters, user parameters, etc. and could be usedeffectively as one or more of the communication paths becomes unreliableor is disconnected or disabled or powered down.

Storage Manager Update Function

For an embodiment, storage element parameters (including connectivityparameters) change over time. For an embodiment, a user device may becarried outside the home WiFi coverage area (for example carried towork), or a storage element (for example a the Network-Attached Storage)attached to a home gateway may be powered down, or a mobile device (forexample a smartphone) connected to a portable device (for example anotebook) through a PAN (for example a USB cable) for a big contenttransfer may be disconnected later. In an embodiment, the user maypurchase additional user devices.

For an embodiment, it is advantageous to update (for exampleperiodically or dynamically) the storage manager status information. Thestorage manager update function could be located at a subset of the userdevices (for example as a storage manager update function device), or ata central location for a plurality of user devices associated with auser (for example as a storage manager update function home or work) orat the content provider (for example distribution server) or reservoir(for example as a storage manager update function server). The storagemanager information could be distributed or centralized across one ormore storage manager update function sites. The storage manager updatefunctions could use keep alive signals to maintain storage managerstatus, or polling signals or interrupt signals from devices or someother method. This information would be used to maintain a currentstatus of the storage network (for embodiments a storage networkincludes a plurality of storage elements) available to the user or auser device. This function could monitor status/changes in storageon/off status, connectivity on/off, list of active modems, modem linkperformance, connectivity bandwidth, QoS, QoE, available storage,available content, location, number of hops, etc. This function coulddetermine if new storage is added to the network, problems with thestorage (for example reliability, corruption, etc.). The storage managerupdate function could also delete storage elements from the storagenetwork if necessary.

The storage manager update function could also monitor storage elementparameters and compute statistics vs. time or vs. location or vs. user.The storage manager update function could be useful for preloadingcontent or providing content to the end user. For an embodiment, if astorage element is usually powered down at night, it may not be helpfulfor storing off peak broadband data downloaded at night. If a userdevice is carried to work during the day, it could be helpful to preloada coupled or attached storage element with content at night. If the userof a user device takes the user device to the park without cellular datacoverage for lunch break to read financial news, it may be helpful topreload relevant content during the morning over the users workcommunication network.

User Parameters for Storage Manager

To enhance the storage manager operation, it may be advantageous toprovide it with storage parameter information relative to the user/s.For an embodiment, during enrolment the user may input a list ofpreferences (for example partially and/or updating over time). FIG. 12is a table that includes an example of a user input table according toan embodiment. For an embodiment, the user/s may input for each storageelement preferences related to the content type (for example ranked orgraded/scaled, could include blocked content, parental control), contentformat, how much storage to reserve for content, if the storage elementis used by a single or a list or a group of users. Also preferredlocations where the storage element will be used and preferredcommunication network (for example could be ranked list, could have aexclusive list, preferred list, blocked list, etc.). The user may inputinformation related to the various communication network data plansavailable. The user/s may update the information over time.

In an embodiment a user entity may be a user device, storage element,etc. In addition to the direct input from the user, the user entity maycollect user and/or user device and/or storage history instead of userinput or in addition to user input to further assist the storagemanager. This information could include user utilization of userentities (for example times or locations), content type/format/etc. vs.time/location consumed at the user devices, content type/format/etc.purchased vs. time/location at the user devices. This information couldfurther include updated usage or predicted usage of communicationnetwork data plans relative to cost/limits/etc. This information couldfurther include responses from the user to storage managernotifications. For an embodiment, the storage manager may notice that aspecific storage element has not been used for an amount of time largerthan a threshold and notify the user and request a yes/no answer towhether this storage element is no longer available (for example damagedor deleted from home network).

Storage Manager Allocation Function

In addition the storage manager may include a storage manager allocationfunction that provides storage for an improved user's content value.Storage manager can run its own allocation function based on severalattributes including content size, user's preferences, user's historicalcontent consumption (for example type, quality), user's need of contentbased on its location, the likelihood of the content being consumed bythe user, the content life expectancy (for example amount of days/hoursit will be stored), etc.

Storage elements could inform the one or more storage managers ofstorage availability while being cognizant to storage needs of theapplication that are in place in the user device. Storage resourcesbeing managed across a communication network over various user entitiesin order to provide a better user experience as far as contentconsumption (storage consumers). This means that by aggregating all theavailable storage elements in a common pool, the storage manager is ableto provide a larger and more valuable storage per user for immediateand/or near-to-immediate consuming.

Based on a storage request from a content distribution server (forexample a content manager operable on the content distribution server),a storage manager can allocate a fixed storage size to a given user (notnecessary cognizant to content itself) or variable size storage. Thestorage can be based on min and peak value as identified to the contentmanager.

Some embodiments can also strive to provide content that is closer tothe user device, if not necessarily on the device. In this manner, theuser can then download the content faster, and will more likely downloadcontent, than if had to go through a congested or expensivecommunication network from a content source.

Storage Manager: Classifying Storage

An embodiment includes preloading content to at least one of a pluralityof storage elements, wherein the plurality of storage elements includesthe storage element. For this embodiment, preloading includesclassifying each of the plurality of storage elements based on aplurality of content parameters, and preloading based on theclassifications. For one embodiment, the multiple storage elements areassociated with a single user device. For other embodiments, themultiple storage elements are associated with more than a single userdevice.

For an embodiment, classifying each of the plurality of storage elementsinfluences the value metric, wherein the value metric influences whichof the plurality of content is selected. For an embodiment, theclassifying of each of the plurality of storage elements includesevaluating a communication network between at least one associated userdevice and one or more of the plurality of storage elements.

In an embodiment, given the plurality of storage elements withdifferences in storage size, connectivity, mobility, etc. associatedwith a plurality of user devices located at {physical, time,connectivity, etc.} locations relative to the user it may beadvantageous to classify the storage elements to help simplify thestorage management and content management. In at least one embodimentclassifying comprises one or more of organizing, sorting, ranking,classifying into tiers. For an embodiment, the classifying is based onone or more of the following storage element or communication networkparameters: access time/latency, access bandwidth, QoS, QoE, storage(available) size, number of communication hops to the user device orconsuming user. Furthermore the classifying could be based on thestorage locations: for example home storage, work storage, POI storage,cloud storage, content provider storage or content broker storagenetwork. Furthermore the classifying could be based on location,connectivity or speed relative to a particular user device or aparticular user. The classification could be static, quasi-static ordynamic. An example of static storage classification could be a fullywired network that does not add or delete any elements. A quasi-staticstorage classification could be a fully wired network that does allow toadding or deleting elements or power up/down some elements (for exampleto save power dynamically when less storage is necessary). An example ofdynamic storage classification could be a mix of wired and wireless userdevices, where a subset of user devices enter and exit a WLAN coveragearea.

An example of a storage classification into tiers is as follows:

Tier zero storage element: Storage within the communication bus of theuser device. This is the most valuable storage element for this userdevice, but may not have sufficient available (allocated or free)capacity for additional content storage.

Tier one storage element: Storage element within a local network (fasteraccess time) such as home gateway/server. The content resides in a shortand fast communication network distance away from the user device.

Tier two storage element: Storage element not attached directly to thelocal network but it is in close proximity, for example twocommunication network hops away from the device. For example aNetwork-Attached Storage connected by Ethernet to a Home Gateway withWLAN capability communicating to mobile/portable user devices.

Tier three storage element: Storage having a limited access timescattered within network (for example auxiliary PCs, disconnectedauxiliary/backup HDD). Storage element used when tier one and tier twostorage elements are either being consumed and/or dedicated for contentsused for high paying users.

Storage Management: Subscription Plans

Given the set of heterogeneous users, user devices, storage elements,communications networks, content, content providers, and contentbrokers, it may be advantageous to have a service provided offering atleast one of a plurality of storage management subscription plansoffers. The storage management subscription plans could offer free,sponsored, entry level, consumer, business, premium or preferentialcontent services based on one or more of obtained user, user entity,communication network parameters. The storage manager could managestorage for one or more users, one or more storage elements, one or moreuser devices, one or more home networks, one or more content providerand/or optionally one or more content brokers, one or more POIlocations, one or more work locations, etc. The plan could be prepay orpostpay or both prepay and postpay. It could be partially/fullysubsidized, sponsored, ads sponsored, content provider sponsored orcould include a free trial, etc.

Storage Allocation to Content Providers

At least some embodiments monetize storage elements associated to userdevices as a commodity, which content providers can bid for or buy. Acontent provider may offer to pay (or providediscounts/coupons/subsidies/etc.) the user/s to have access to apartition of the storage elements managed by the storage manager. Thisway the content provider has a channel to preload content onto thestorage elements that is likely to be purchased or consumed. This waythe content provider storage manager or content manager decides what tomarket to the user/s onto one or more storage elements associated withone or more user devices over one or more communication networks.

In an embodiment, there are multiple content providers offering to paythe user/s to have access to partitions of the user distributed storageelements. In some embodiments having a content broker may beadvantageous, to avoid the user/s the hassle of managing multiplestorage managers associated with multiple content providers, multiplebills, multiple service plans/offers, from the content providers. Inthis embodiment, the storage manager dynamically supports one or morecontent providers. In an embodiment, the storage manager allocation canbe managed and marketed to the content provider as a service. Storagemanager can allocate storage element partitions of fixed size (forcontent managers to manage the storage element partition) or be based onrequest grant mechanism in which content manager can request for a givenstorage space depending on its needs.

Content Manager: Preloading Selected Content on to Storage Associatedwith User Devices

In an embodiment the content manager is operable on a processor of auser device. In an embodiment the content manager functionality maycomprise improving the value of content available to a user so thatdesirable content is readily accessible when the user is ready toconsume it on a user device likely to be chosen for consuming (forexample viewing, using, displaying, listening, playing, etc.) thecontent. Storage elements associated to one or more user devices may beaccessible through a storage manager. Once the preloaded content isaccessible to a user device, the content manager takes one or moreparameters related to the user, the user devices, the storage element,the communication networks, the content providers and/or the contentbrokers. In an embodiment the content manager maintains the content, forexample decides what content (for example by deleting, moving,preloading content) should reside at storage elements near (for exampleone or more of accessed over a communication network with bandwidthgreater than the content requirements, latency lower than contentrequirements, cost below a user preference, and/or availability above auser parameter requested by a user) the user device to improve the valuefor one or more of the user, the communication network, the one or morecontent providers or one or more service providers.

Content available on storage elements associated with user devices is aprecious resource just like storage, bandwidth, computing power andbattery power and may be managed to provide enhanced value to theuser/s, etc.

The content manager may include several functionalities. The contentmanager may reside at one or more locations. FIG. 13 includes an exampleof a home network with storage manager and content manager functionalityaccording to an embodiment. The content manager could be included at theuser device 102 as a content manager device 1301, or reside at acentralized location associated with the user and manage content onseveral user devices, such as a home gateway as a content manager home1303, or may reside at the content provider as a content manager server1305. Alternatively or in addition, the content manager server may alsoreside at a content broker that manages content of a plurality ofcontent providers for a plurality of users. One or more of the ContentManagers 1301, 1303, 1305 may have access to information 1320,comprising one or more of user parameters (for example user profile,user preferences, user history, user state—location, leisure mode, time,etc.). The content manager may have a master/slave, server/client,centralized or distributed configurations to manage content of theplurality of user devices.

Preloading or Assisting Preloading a Content

Preloading a content comprises delivering (or loading or downloading oruploading, etc.) a portion of the content item onto a storage elementunsolicited by a potential user or consumer or prior to a potential useror consumer selecting the content item. Preloading may comprise anadditional step of selecting a content from a plurality of contentwithout the potential user or consumer requesting the content.

In at least one embodiment, preloading a content comprises pushing thecontent from a content source (network entity, content distributionserver, cloud, service provider, content provider, content broker, etc.)to a content destination (user entity, storage element, user device withstorage, etc.). In this embodiment, the content source typically selectsthe content and the target storage element and initiates the preloading.

In at least one embodiment, preloading a content comprises pushing thecontent from a source (network entity, cloud, service provider, contentprovider, content broker, etc.) to a plurality of destinations (userentity, storage element, user device with storage, etc.) throughmulticasting. In this embodiment, the source element typically selectsthe content and the plurality of target storage element and initiatesthe preloading.

In at least one embodiment, preloading a content comprises pulling thecontent from a content source (network entity, cloud, service provider,content provider, content broker, etc.) to a content destination (userentity, storage element, user device with storage, etc.). In thisembodiment, the content destination element typically selects thecontent and the target storage element and initiates the request forpreloading.

In another embodiment the source may be a user entity (for example usergenerated content located at a user device, storage element, etc.) andthe destination may be a network entity (service provider, storageprovider, content broker, content provider, cloud, etc.). In anotherembodiment the source may be a first user entity (user device, storageelement, etc.) and the destination may be a second entity (user device,storage element, etc.). In another embodiment, the destination storageentity of a first preload (for example POI storage) may be a source fora second preload to a second destination storage element. In anotherembodiment preloading a content may comprise an intermediate storageelement. For example a content targeted to a mobile user device may bepreloaded to the users' home set top box or gateway over a wide areabroadband communication network, and subsequently preloaded from the settop box to the mobile user device local storage over a home WiFinetwork.

In at least one embodiment the preloaded content destination may be astorage element of a first user device and a user may select the contentto be presented at a second user device. For an embodiment, the firstuser device may not have the appropriate presentation HW (for exampledisplay resolution) for the preloaded content or may not have theappropriate SW (for example an image decoder) for the preloaded content.In this embodiment the preloaded content may not be preloaded ontostorage element of the second user device. For an embodiment, a video ormovie may be preloaded onto a smart phone flash storage and presented ordisplayed on a TV over WiFi. The choice between presenting the contentfrom the first user device included storage element over a communicationnetwork to a second user device UI, or preloading onto the second userdevice storage prior to presentation may be based on a value metric. Thevalue metric may be a function of one or more of communication networkparameters (performance, cost, etc.), storage element parameters(performance, availability, cost, etc.), etc.

In at least one embodiment, a content preloading may be initiated basedon a value metric, but may be paused, interrupted, stopped, etc. basedon changes in value parameters over time. For example, a movie contentmay initiate preloading when a mobile user device is in the home WiFinetwork, but pause as the mobile user device is no longer in thecoverage area of the home WiFi in switching to a 3G data network. Inanother embodiment, a content preloading may be restarted based onchanges in value metric parameters over time.

In at least one embodiment, a preloaded content may comprise preloadedbusiness rules, content rules, policies, etc. (collectively denotedbusiness rules) associated with the preloaded content. These businessrules may include information associated with the consumption of thecontent. In an embodiment business rules comprise one or more of asingle use or multiuse or unlimited use, single-user or multiuser, acost, a restriction on the time or dates of content consumption, arestriction on subsequent preloading onto other user devices, a securityelement, a protection feature, an authorization restriction,authentication rules, etc.

In at least one embodiment, several storage elements share acommunication network. In this embodiment list of content for preloadingassociated to each storage element (for example several users sharing aDOCSIS channel or a satellite channel) are aggregated and content thatis targeted to more than one storage element is multicast or broadcastover the communication network. This embodiment has the benefit ofsharing communication network cost over more than one storage element.This may improve a value metric resulting in greater preloads or moreprofit. This embodiment is especially valuable for losslesscommunication networks. If the communication network is lossy, one ormore storage elements preloading the multicast (or broadcast) contentmay be missing some of the information necessary for presenting thecontent. For the majority of communication networks the packet errorrate (loss) is typically a small percentage of the packets transmitted(the largest values are typically for NLOS wireless, where targets aretypically 1%). The packet error rate could be reduced by a secondmulticast (or broadcast) of the content. In an embodiment a content ismulticast a second time based on a packet error rate of thecommunication network. If the first and second transmissions areindependent, the aggregate packet error rate after two multicasts wouldreduce the packet error rate by the second power of the packet errorrate (for example 1% would become 0.01%). In another embodiment, if thepacket error rate is low, the erroneous packets are downloaded duringcontent consumption. In another embodiment one of more a storage elementcould pull or request the missing or erroneous packets. For example if acontent is preloaded by multicast onto 10 storage elements with a packeterror rate of 1%, typically a second multicast would double thecommunication network resources and result in a packet error rate of0.01%. If each of the storage elements requests the missing or erroneous1% of packets, this would add 10% of packets being retransmitted (plussome overhead). If the probability of consumption is 20%, on the averageonly 2% of the packets would be retransmitted/downloaded (plusoverhead). The relative benefits of each embodiment depend on one ormore of the packet error rate, the number of storage elements beingmulticast, the packet error rate, likelihood of consumption, etc.

Preloading Assisted by Content Broker

For an embodiment, the service provider includes a content broker,wherein the content broker assists in the distribution of content. Foran embodiment, the broker assisting in the distribution of the contentincludes obtaining, by the at least one content distribution server,storage element value metric information of a plurality of storageelements, associated with a plurality of user devices, and assisting, bythe one or more content distribution servers, a content provider inpreloading at least a portion of a content onto one or more of theplurality of storage elements associated with the plurality of userdevices based on the storage element value metric information.

For an embodiment, the service provider includes a content broker,wherein the content broker assists in the distribution of content. Foran embodiment, the content broker assisting in the distribution of thecontent includes obtaining, by the at least one content distributionserver, user device value metric information of a plurality of userdevices, associated with a plurality of user devices, and assisting, bythe one or more content distribution servers, a content provider inpreloading at least a portion of a content onto one or more of theplurality of storage elements associated with the plurality of userdevices based on the user device value metric information.

For an embodiment, the service provider includes a content broker,wherein the content broker assists in the distribution of content. Foran embodiment, the broker assisting in the distribution of the contentincludes obtaining, by the at least one content distribution server, acommunication network value metric information used for preloading thecontent onto a plurality of storage elements, associated with aplurality of user devices, and assisting, by the one or more contentdistribution servers, a content provider in preloading at least aportion of a content onto one or more of the plurality of storageelements associated with the plurality of user devices based on thecommunication network value metric information.

For an embodiment, the service provider includes a content broker,wherein the content broker assists in the distribution of content. Foran embodiment, the broker assisting in the distribution of the contentincludes obtaining, by the at least one content distribution server, acommunication network value metric information used for presenting thepreloaded content from a plurality of storage elements, onto anassociated plurality of user devices, and assisting, by the one or morecontent distribution servers, a content provider in preloading at leasta portion of a content onto one or more of the plurality of storageelements associated with the plurality of user devices based on thecommunication network value metric information.

An embodiment includes a content broker system. The content brokersystem includes at least one content distribution server coupled throughone or more communications networks to a plurality of user devices andone or more content providers. The at least one content distributionserver is operative to obtain at least one of a user device parameter ora user parameter, wherein the user parameter is associated with at leastone user associated with one or more of the plurality of user devices,classify a plurality of storage elements associated with the pluralityof user devices based on the at least one of the user device parameteror the user parameter, offer preloading opportunities to at least one ofthe one or more content providers, select a content from a plurality ofcontent available from the one or more content providers based on theclassified plurality of storage elements and responses to the offeredpreloading opportunities, and assist preloading of at least a portion ofthe selected content to at least one of the plurality of storageelements.

For an embodiment, the offered preloading opportunities are based atleast in part on the classified plurality of storage elements. For anembodiment, the classification of the plurality of storage elements isbased at least in part on responses of the one or more content providersto the offered preloading opportunities. For an embodiment, the at leastone content distribution server is further operative to allow the one ormore content providers to assist in defining the preloadingopportunities offers.

For an embodiment, the at least one content distribution server isfurther operative to provide the one of more content providers with theat least one of user device parameters or user parameters, and allow theone of more content providers to assist in defining the preloadingopportunities offers. For an embodiment, the at least one contentdistribution server is further operative to provide the one of morecontent providers with the at least one of user device parameter or theuser parameter, and allow the one of more content providers to assist inselecting the content from the plurality of content.

For an embodiment, obtaining at least one of a user device parameter ora user parameter is updated over time. For a specific embodiments, theuser device parameter or user parameter are updated based on one or moretime events, wherein the one or more time event includes at least one ofperiodic updates, polling based updates or event interrupt basedupdates.

An embodiment further includes classifying the plurality of storageelements based on a storage element parameter.

For an embodiment, the user device parameter comprises a storage elementavailability of one or more of the plurality of storage elements. For aspecific embodiment, the storage element parameter includes acommunication network parameter associated with one or more of theplurality of the storage elements. For an embodiment, the user parameterincludes one or more of a user preference, user history, user location,or user state.

For an embodiment, the classification of the plurality of storageelements based on the user parameter includes a user populationparametrized by one or more of a user preference or user demographic ora user history or a user state.

For an embodiment, at least one user device includes a device agent,wherein the device agent at least assists the obtaining user parameters.For an embodiment, at least one user device includes a device agent,wherein the device agent at least assists the selecting of the content.For an embodiment, at least one user device includes a device agent,wherein the device agent assists consumption of the selected content.

For an embodiment, the at least the portion of the content is encrypted,and further comprising providing a selected user device with an abilityto decrypt the preloaded at least the portion of the selected content.

For an embodiment, the at least one content distribution server isfurther operative to receive bids from at least one of the one or morecontent providers based on the preloading opportunity offers, select atleast one bid, and further select the content based on the at least oneselected bid. For an embodiment, the at least one content distributionserver is further operative to receive bids from at least one of the oneor more content providers based on the preloading opportunity offers,select at least one bid, and further classify the plurality of storageelements based on the at least one selected bid. For an embodiment, theat least one content distribution server is further operative tofacilitate billing of the selected content.

For an embodiment, the at least one content distribution server isfurther operative to provide the one of more content providers with auser interface. For a specific embodiment, the user interface allows theone or more content providers to manage preloading opportunities offers.For at least some embodiments, the user interface allows the one or morecontent providers to manage preloading opportunities offers includesallowing at least one content provider to at least one of pay, bid,modify, specify, design, define preloading opportunities. For at leastsome embodiments, the user interface allows the one or more contentproviders assist in selecting the content from the plurality of content.For at least some embodiments, the user interface allows the one or morecontent providers to manage the preloaded at least the portion of theselected content. At least some embodiments further include allowing oneor more content provider to manage the preloaded at least the portion ofthe selected content includes allowing at least one content provider toat least one of monitor, generate statistics, track or post-processinformation associated with the preloaded at least the portion of theselected content.

For an embodiment, classifying the plurality of storage elements orselecting the content is additionally based on at least informationassociated with other content available on the plurality of storageelements. For an embodiment, classifying the plurality of storageelements or selecting the content is additionally based on at leastinformation associated with one or more communications networks thatcouple the at least one content distribution server to one or more ofthe plurality of storage elements. For an embodiment, the plurality ofstorage elements or selecting the content is additionally based on atleast information associated with the one or more communication networkthat couples the one or more of the plurality of user devices to one ormore of the plurality of storage elements.

An embodiment further includes the at least one content distributionserver or a processor associated with one or more of the storageelements determining an association of the one or more of the pluralityof storage elements storage elements with one or more of the pluralityof user devices, and wherein classifying the one or more of theplurality of storage elements or selecting the content is additionallybased on at least the one or more of the plurality of user devices or aplurality of users associated with the one or more the plurality ofstorage elements.

An embodiment includes the at least one content distribution server or aprocessor associated with one or more of the plurality of storageelements assisting in deleting of at least a portion of a second contentavailable on one or more of the plurality of storage elements. Anembodiment includes the at least one content distribution server or aprocessor associated with one or more of the plurality of storageelements assisting in moving at least a portion of a second contentavailable on one or more of the plurality of storage elements to asecond storage element associated with a user or user device.

An embodiment further includes the at least one content distributionserver or a processor associated with one or more of the plurality ofstorage elements operative to classifying each of the plurality ofstorage elements based on a plurality of content parameters, and selectthe content based on the classifications. An embodiment further includesthe at least one content distribution server or a processor associatedwith one or more of the plurality of storage elements assisting inpresentation of information related to the selected content to at leastone of the plurality of user devices associated with the one or more ofthe plurality of storage elements.

An embodiment further includes the at least one content distributionserver or a processor associated with one or more of the plurality ofstorage elements obtaining information associated with the preloaded atleast the portion of selected content based on prior preloading, andevaluating interaction with the preloaded at least the portion ofselected content. An embodiment further includes the at least onecontent distribution server or a processor associated with one or moreof the plurality of storage elements, operative to select a firstplurality of storage elements, preload at least a portion of a firstcontent onto the first plurality of storage elements, wherein the firstplurality of storage elements are associated with a first plurality ofuser devices, and obtain information associated with user interaction ofthe at least one user with the first content preloaded onto the firstplurality of storage elements.

For an embodiment, the selected content comprises an advertisement, andfurther including the at least one content distribution server or aprocessor associated with one or more of the plurality of storageelements, operative to select the advertisement, assist in presentationof the advertisement at one or more of the plurality of user devices.

For an embodiment, a cost for consuming the selected content is based ona cost parameter associated with one or more of the plurality of storageelements or at least one of the one or more communication networks.

An embodiment includes a method of a content broker assistingdistribution of content. The method includes obtaining, by one or morecontent distribution servers, at least one of user device parameterinformation or storage element parameter information of a plurality ofuser devices and a plurality of storage elements associated with theplurality of user devices, and assisting, by the one or more contentdistribution servers, at least one content provider in preloading acontent onto one or more of the plurality of storage elements associatedwith the plurality of user devices based on the at least one of the userdevice parameters information or the storage element parameterinformation. For an embodiment, the storage element parameterinformation includes communication network parameter informationassociated with the storage element.

An embodiment further includes obtaining, by the one or more contentdistribution servers, user parameter information of the plurality ofuser devices, wherein the assisting the at least one content provider inpreloading the content onto the one or more of the plurality of storageelements associated with the plurality of user devices is further basedon the user parameter information.

For an embodiment, a value metric includes at least one of the userdevice parameters information or storage element parameter information,and wherein the method further comprises the one or more contentdistribution servers selecting at least a portion of the content of aplurality of available content based upon the value metric. For anembodiment, the value metric comprises information associated with othercontent available on one or more of the plurality of storage elements.For an embodiment, the value metric is based on at least informationassociated with a communication network that couples the one or morecontent distribution servers to one or more of the plurality of storageelements. For an embodiment, the value metric is based on at leastinformation associated with a communication network that couples the oneor more of the plurality of user devices to one or more of the pluralityof storage elements. For an embodiment, the at least one contentdistribution server or a processor associated with one or more of theplurality of storage elements determining an association of the one ormore of the plurality of storage elements storage elements with aplurality of user devices, and wherein the value metric is based on atleast the plurality of user devices or a plurality of users associatedwith the plurality of user devices. For an embodiment, the value metricis based on at least a parameter associated with one or more of theplurality of storage elements. For an embodiment, the value metric isbased on at least a parameter associated with a communication networkthat couples the one or more content distribution servers with theplurality of storage elements.

For an embodiment, the at least one content distribution server or aprocessor associated with one or more of the plurality of storageelements assisting in deleting of at least a portion of a second contentavailable on one or more of the plurality of storage elements. For anembodiment, the at least one content distribution server or a processorassociated with one or more of the plurality of storage elementsassisting in moving at least a portion of a second content available onone or more of the plurality of storage elements to a second storageelement associated with a user or user device.

An embodiment further includes the at least one content distributionserver or a processor associated with one or more of the plurality ofstorage elements preloading content to at least one of the plurality ofstorage elements, classifying each of the plurality of storage elementsbased on a plurality of content parameters, and preloading based on theclassifications. An embodiment further includes the at least one contentdistribution server or a processor associated with one or more of theplurality of storage elements assisting in presentation of informationrelated to the content to a user device associated with the one or moreof the plurality of storage elements.

An embodiment further includes the at least one content distributionserver or a processor associated with one or more of the plurality ofstorage elements obtaining information associated with the content basedon prior preloading of the content, and evaluating interaction with thepreloaded content.

An embodiment further includes the at least one content distributionserver or a processor associated with one or more of the plurality ofstorage elements, operative to select a first plurality of storageelements, preload at least a portion of the content onto the firstplurality of storage elements, wherein the first plurality of storageelements are associated with a first plurality of user devices, andobtain information associated with the value metric from the contentpreloaded onto the first plurality of storage elements.

For an embodiment, the content includes an advertisement, and furtherincludes the at least one content distribution server or a processorassociated with one or more of the plurality of storage elements,operative to select the advertisement, and assist in presentation of theadvertisement at one or more of the plurality of user devices.

For an embodiment, a cost for consuming the content is based on a valuemetric cost parameter associated with one or more of the plurality ofstorage elements or a communication network.

FIG. 23A includes a list of steps for assisting preloading of contentaccording to an embodiment. A first step may include sending a requestto join the content distribution system from a user 2300 to a contentbroker 140. A prior step may include the content broker 140 inviting theuser 2300 to join the content distribution system. A second step mayinclude registering one or more user devices 100 or one or more storageelements 2310 and 2311 associated with user 2300 with the content broker140. A 3rd step may include giving access to the content broker 140 tothe user devices and storage elements (devices) 100, 2310, 2311. Anadditional optional step may include installing software or apps on oneor more of devices 100, 2310, 2311. A content broker 140 may be incommunication with one or more content providers 130 and 131. A 4th stepmay include the content broker 140 providing availability of user 2300,user device 100, storage element 2310, storage element 2311 to thecontent provider 130 or 131. The availability information may includeone or more parameters that may be relevant for value metric preloadingdecisions. A 5th step may include the one or more content providers 130,131 bidding for storage element allocation to content broker 140. A 6thstep may include content broker 140 allocating storage within storageelements 2310 and 2311 to content provider 130 and content provider 131.For an embodiment, content provider 130 may have bid a larger amount oroffer more valuable content to the user, resulting on allocation topreload content onto the storage element 2310 internal to the device(for example and content provider 131 being allocated external storageelement 2311 associated with user device 100). Many other valuableembodiments related to FIG. 23A may be derived. For an embodiment, somesteps may be eliminated, some steps may be combined, some steps may beperformed in a different order, or additional steps may be added. For anembodiment, some or all of content broker 140 functionality may beincluded within the content provider 130. There may be a single contentprovider 130. The 5th step may be eliminated if the content broker 140functionality is included within content provider 130. External storageelement 2311 may be internal to a second user device associated with theuser 2300 (for example a home gateway or home PC). In addition a contentprovider or content broker may give instructions to storage element todelete or move previously preloaded content.

FIG. 23B includes a list of steps for assisting preloading of contentaccording to an embodiment. A first step may include sending a requestto join the content distribution system from a user 2300 to a contentbroker 140. A prior step may include the content broker 140 inviting theuser 2300 to join the content distribution system. A second step mayinclude registering one or more user devices 100 associated with user2300 or one or more storage elements 2310 and 2311 associated with user2300 with the content broker 140. A 3rd step may include giving accessto the content broker 140 to the devices user device 100, storageelement 2310, storage element 2311. An additional optional step mayinclude installing software or apps on one or more of user devices andstorage elements 100, 2310, 2311. In an embodiment a content broker 140may classify a plurality of users 2300, or a plurality of user devices100, or a plurality storage elements 2310, 2311, etc., based oninformation or parameters associated to the population of users, userdevices, storage elements, communication networks, etc., into preloadingopportunities. In an embodiment a content broker 140 may classify,wherein classifying comprises characterizing a plurality of users 2300,or a plurality of user devices 100, or a plurality storage elements2310, 2311, etc., based on information or parameters associated to thepopulation of users, user devices, storage elements, communicationnetworks, etc., into preloading opportunities. In an embodiment acontent broker 140 may classify, wherein classifying comprisesidentifying a plurality of users 2300, or a plurality of user devices100, or a plurality storage elements 2310, 2311, etc., based oninformation or parameters associated to the population of users, userdevices, storage elements, communication networks, etc., into preloadingopportunities. In an embodiment a content broker 140 may classify,wherein classifying comprises ranking a plurality of users 2300, or aplurality of user devices 100, or a plurality storage elements 2310,2311, etc., based on information or parameters associated to thepopulation of users, user devices, storage elements, communicationnetworks, etc., into preloading opportunities. In an embodiment acontent broker 140 may classify, wherein classifying comprisesprioritizing a plurality of users 2300, or a plurality of user devices100, or a plurality storage elements 2310, 2311, etc., based oninformation or parameters associated to the population of users, userdevices, storage elements, communication networks, etc., into preloadingopportunities. In an embodiment a content broker 140 may classify,wherein classifying comprises organizing a plurality of users 2300, or aplurality of user devices 100, or a plurality storage elements 2310,2311, etc., based on information or parameters associated to thepopulation of users, user devices, storage elements, communicationnetworks, etc., into preloading opportunities. In an embodiment acontent broker 140 may classify, wherein classifying comprisesclustering a plurality of users 2300, or a plurality of user devices100, or a plurality storage elements 2310, 2311, etc., based oninformation or parameters associated to the population of users, userdevices, storage elements, communication networks, etc., into preloadingopportunities.

The preloading opportunities may be one or more of subset of users, asubset of user devices, a subset of storage elements, a subset ofcommunication networks, or a subset of a combination. For example thepreloading opportunity could be a subset of smartphones with a specificset of SW, or a subset of storage elements with more than X GB ofavailable flash, or a subset of users with a specific demographic orstate, or the preloading opportunity could be a combination subset, suchas females in a specific age group in a specific location with aspecific phone model with a specific app installed, etc. An item in thissystem (for example a specific user or a specific user device or aspecific storage element, etch) could be part of one of more storagepreloading opportunities. When an item could be part of one or morestorage preloading opportunities it could be offered at a variable price(wherein the term price may be used interchangeable with cost, forexample a cost to a buyer may be a price from a seller) to one or morecontent providers (or ad providers, etc.) depending on the preloadingopportunity. For example a particular user could be a male, age group25-45, is a soccer enthusiast, annual income 50,000-100,000, has asmartphone and a STB/DVR. If the target user is walking down anauto-mall street with his smartphone, a preloading opportunity could be:the smartphone storage, 3G cellular network, the user is near cardealers, a user that could afford a car >20,000, etc. A secondpreloading opportunity could be the STB/DVR, broadband network to hishome, an EPL soccer match and some soccer gear ads, etc. These twostorage preloading opportunities associated with the target user couldbe offered to one or more content providers (or ad providers, etc.) forbidding or at a set price. It may be beneficial to the content broker140 to classify a plurality of users 2300, or a plurality of userdevices 100, or a plurality storage elements 2310, 2311, etc., intostorage preloading opportunities that are more valuable to contentproviders 130, 131.

The content broker could be in communication with one or more contentproviders 130 and 131. A 4th step may include the content broker 140providing preload opportunities for a subset of users 2300, user devices100, storage elements 2310, 2311 to content provider 130 or 131. Thepreload opportunity information may include one or more parameters thatmay be relevant for preloading decisions. A 5th step may include the oneor more content providers 130, 131 bidding for storage elementpreloading opportunities to content broker 140. A 6th step may includecontent broker 140 initiating preloading storage within storage elements2310 and 2311 on behalf of content provider 130 or content provider 131.For an embodiment, content provider 130 may have bid a larger amount oroffer more valuable content to the user, resulting on allocation topreload content onto the storage 2310 internal to the device (forexample and content provider 131 being allocated external storageelement 2311 associated with user device 100). Many other valuableembodiments related to FIG. 23B may be derived. For an embodiment, somesteps may be eliminated, some steps may be combined, some steps may beperformed in a different order, and/or steps may be added. For anembodiment, some or all of content broker 140 functionality may beincluded within the content provider 130. There may be a single contentprovider 130. The 5th step may be eliminated if the content broker 140functionality is included within content provider 130. External storageelement 2311 may be internal to a second user device associated with theuser 2300 (for example a home gateway or home PC). In addition a contentprovider or content broker may give instructions to storage element todelete or move previously preloaded content.

The content may be split during preloading into portions. For security,a large portion may be preloaded (for examplescrambled/distorted/encrypted) onto a storage element to increase valuemetric, but a small portion may be streamed or downloaded only afterpurchase. The second portion may be downloaded real time (for examplestreamed) as the content is consumed or the second portion may be a keyto authorize content consumption, maybe after a payment or afterauthentication from the user or user device.

The content preloading may be split and stored into more than onestorage element (for example multi-resolution content with lowerresolution on mobile device and higher resolution on gateway andcombine)

The content preloading may be split over more than one communicationnetwork. For an embodiment, over time and location as storage elementmoves over Communication Network or cost of Communication Networkchanges. For an embodiment, larger portion preloaded over low costCommunication Network and smaller portion preloaded over higher costmobile Communication Network.

Content distribution system (for example could be part of storagemanager) could obtain Communication Network parameters (for examplespeed/performance/QoS) and Communication Network service plans (forexample unlimited/capped/free/changes in rate vs. time/day) andCommunication Network usage vs. service plan (for example to datecommunication network data plan usage vs. caps vs. days remaining inbilling cycle) and Communication Network usage prediction information(for example likely to go over data cap or not).

Preloading could be aware of other Communication Network usage by otherapplications to avoid slowing down other tasks.

Content Broker Embodiments at User Entity

In at least one embodiment, user entities comprises devices local to auser or controlled or owned by a user, such as user devices (for examplePC, TV, smartphone, tables, etc.) or storage elements (for example settop boxes, home gateways, network or direct attached storage, or userdevices with storage, etc.

In at least one embodiment the user entity classifies available storage.In at least one embodiment the user entity obtains user input forpreferences relative to allocating storage to dedicate for preloadingcontent service. In at least one embodiment a user may connect to anetwork entity to specify user preferences relative to allocatingstorage (or alternatively content preferences, communication networkpreferences, service plans, etc.). In at least one embodiment a userentity obtains user content preloading preferences and uses thisinformation to allocate available storage on device to content typesand/or content providers. In at least one embodiment a user entityreceives one or more of user preferences, user selections relative to aplurality of content providers or a plurality of content types, or aplurality of content offers for one or more content type or source, apercentage of content offers for one or more content type or for one ormore content source. In at least one embodiment a user entity presentsinformation associated with one or more of the percentage for one ormore of content types, with the percentage for one or more contentproviders, with the percentage of one or more content offers. In atleast one embodiment a user entity offers a user at least partialcontrol over the allocation and percentages of content type or contentsource preloaded. In at least one embodiment a network entity has atleast partial control over the allocation and percentages of contenttype or content source preloaded. In at least one embodiment a userentity received users preferences for initial content preloading and arefurther refined or modified based on analyzing user actions, states,location, purchase patterns or behavior, other behaviors. In at leastone embodiment user interactions with the content at the user entity arealso used, such as rental vs. purchase, selecting vs. previewing vs.consuming, etc. In at least one embodiment, a user entity receivespreferences from a user about methods to present (for example display)preloaded content information (for example preloaded content offers, oravailability, or priority, or type of content, or content provider todisplay in highest content offer discovery locations in UI, or type ofcontent or content provider to display in a multitude of content offerareas, or type of content or content provider to display in a percentageof content offer positions). In at least one embodiment, a user entityclassifies (for example partitions, identifies, clusters, categorizes,ranks, sorts) content memory into a classified preloading opportunitybased on one or more of candidate storage types (for example based oncontent type or content provider), an amount of storage for eachcandidate storage element type (may be based on a number of items thatcan be stored), a user preference or demographic indication for eachstorage element type, a user likelihood to purchase indication or a userlikelihood to view or act indication. In at least one embodiment a userentity gathers additional information about a user (for examplelocation, app preferences, time of day vs. activity, etc.). In at leastone embodiment, a user entity sends classified preloading opportunityinformation to a network entity. In at least one embodiment, a userentity sends classified content opportunity information to a networkentity. In at least one embodiment, a user entity stores preloadedcontent. In at least one embodiment, a user entity receives contentindexed by location in content discovery UI (wherein content discoveryenables or facilitates a user finding or locating preloaded content)that content preloading information or advertisements are to be placedin content discovery UI. In at least one embodiment, a user entityplaces advertisements in content discovery UI according to UI contentpartitions. In at least one embodiment, a user entity comprises one ormore of: accepts user purchase inputs, conducts purchase transactions,gets unlock keys from network entity, unlocks content or makes availablefor consumption.

In at least one embodiment, a user entity classifies discovery ormaintenance information, for example user preference attribute discoveryor changes based on ongoing activities.

In at least one embodiment, a user entity shares classificationinformation to a content discovery function that classifies contentdisplay discovery priority (for example placement of preloaded contentinformation on UI, advertising for preloaded content) based on one ormore of: how long content has been on device, how many times the contenthas been viewed, user preference, user preference changes, user activitycharacterization, changes in promotional value or promotional priorityof content items. For at least embodiments, classify includes one ormore of identify, rank, prioritize, select.

In at least one embodiment, a user entity assists on a content discoveryclassification that occurs on device, or assist on process updates todiscovery information presentation priority to optimize presentation ofdiscovery priority for preloaded content inventory on device.

Content Broker Embodiments at Network Entity

In at least one embodiment, network entities comprises HW or SW in thenetwork (or cloud) which are typically not local to a user and arecontrolled or owned by content providers, content brokers, ServerProviders, Storage Providers, ad providers, etc., such as servers,switches, routers, storage reservoirs, etc.

In at least one embodiment, a network entity obtains classifiedpreloading opportunities. In at least one embodiment, a network entitytransforms classified preloading opportunities into one or morepreloading content inventory entries that characterize an aspect of auser or user entity for a content provider preloading opportunity valuefor one or more target preloaded content types or content items. In atleast one embodiment, a network entity places preloading contentinventory entries into an aggregate preloading content inventory. In atleast one embodiment, a network entity classifies the aggregatepreloading content inventory into content inventory partitions (whereinpartition may comprise one or more of classification, clusters, subsets)that characterize a multitude of preloading content inventory entriesassociated with a preloading opportunity value metric. In at least oneembodiment, a value metric may include one or more of demographiccharacterization for users, device type characterization, likelihood ofpurchasing content or content type or content item, user preferencecharacterization, user activity characterization (for example traveling,movie watcher, lots of spare time, frequents a location or area, etc.),characterization based on pre-determined content storage opportunitycategories. In at least one embodiment, characterization comprises oneor more of parametrization (for example obtain parameters), clustering,partition, creating subsets, classifying, modeling, analyzing. In atleast one embodiment, a value metric may comprise a bidder input (forexample limits, requirements, restrictions, demographics, compensation,content rules, promotions, etc.), for example from a content provider orservice provider or ad provider.

In at least one embodiment, a network entity offers content inventorypartition commitments to content provider preloading opportunitycommitment bidders, the commitment comprising a commitment to preload acontent bundle on a certain number of user entities (for example storageelements or user devices) that satisfy the preloading opportunity valuemetric for the content inventory partition.

In at least one embodiment, a network entity accepts one or more biddercontent bundles comprising content items for one or more contentinventory partitions.

In at least one embodiment, a network entity considers constraints onuser entities (for example content already stored on device that is notready to be rolled, other content to be stored on device, storageavailable on device, storage available in intermediate reservoir,communication network parameters to device, communication networkparameters to intermediate reservoir) and aggregate of one or morecontent bundles that have been committed to distribute, determines adevice population to match up to satisfy agreement to fulfill contentinventory partition commitment

In at least one embodiment, a content distribution system selects one ormore of multiple classified preloading opportunities, preloading contentinventory entries, aggregate preloading content inventories, discoveryor presentation or advertisement of preloaded content, preloadingcontent bundles commitments, device storage constraints is based on avalue metric.

In at least one embodiment, a network entity assists in preloading thecontent bundle to device population.

In at least one embodiment, a network entity assists in one or more ofdiscovery of preloaded content, presentation of information associatedwith preloaded content, process updates for preloaded content discoveryoptimization information to optimize display discovery priority forinventory on device, passes optimized discovery information to a userdevice so the user device can implement.

In at least one embodiment, a network entity collects updates from usersor user entities on one or more of user parameters, preloaded contentinteractions (for example views, purchases, etc.), user or user entityparameters (for example a user can change storage allocations orrequired synchronization between user entity stored parameters andnetwork entity stored parameters).

In at least one embodiment, a network entity may assist in processingpurchase transactions or distribution of keys.

In at least one embodiment, in addition to bidding or alternatively tobidding, a content broker assists a content provider on selectingcontent and preloading content based on a revenue sharing between thecontent broker and content provider.

In an embodiment inventory partition commitments are sorted, ranked,classified based on a value metric evaluated to benefit one or more of auser, a content provider, a content broker.

In an embodiment inventory partition commitments are sorted, ranked,classified based on bid responses or offer responses. In an embodimentthe device population is optimized, grouped, classified, clustered,etc., based on available storage and user demographics to determine mostlucrative content inventory partition commitments. In an embodiment,organizing (for example optimizing or ranking or displaying) contentdiscovery placement in a device population is based on both userpriorities or preferences or restrictions and bidder value of placement.

In an embodiment content advertising on a user device is organizedaccording to both user priorities and bidder value of placement. In anembodiment, the content advertisements are organized (for exampleoptimizing) to satisfy advertising commitments (or simply charge forads). In an embodiment a future activity of user is determined andinformation of the future activity is used to classify the preloadingopportunity for the user (for example knowledge of the user going onvacation, going on trip, holiday coming up, weekend coming up,characterizing a time user typically views/purchases, etc.). In anembodiment the user specifies a future location of the user and the userdevice. In an embodiment the future location is based on location traceor side information. In an embodiment user analytics are used to predictor estimate a future state/location of the user.

Preloaded Content

If content is preloaded onto a storage element associated with a userdevice, a number of processing operations could be performed that couldbenefit the storage element, or a processor associated with the storageelement or a user device.

Preloaded content may be de-compressed for faster access (for example agame or a SW program/app) or to assist real time play back (for examplereduce processor workload or save battery power). Preloaded content maybe transcoded to a different format. Preloaded content may be compressedif storage resources are at a premium. For an embodiment, a reservoir(home gateway, home set top box, POI storage, etc.) could receive a highquality version of a movie (for example HD1080p) and generate lowerquality versions in multiple formats (for example tablets, notebooks,smartphones, etc.). Preloaded content may be deleted or moved. Preloadedcontent may be deleted or moved based on value metrics or value metricinformation associated to one or more entities.

Content Parameters

In an embodiment, a content may include a number of content parametersthat could help select content to increase the value of the contentpreloaded onto storage elements associated to user devices. Contentincludes movies, sport events, shows, videos, photos, music, musicvideos, news, books, audio books, ring tones, games, software programs,software upgrade, software updates, apps, etc. For an embodiment, formovies, important content parameters are format, which could includemultiple resolutions targeting multiple user devices of different sizeand quality, size of file, which determines how much communicationnetwork bandwidth will be consumed and time elapsed to download,playback duration, which determines how long the user may take toconsume the movie, maximum downloading rate, which is related to size offile and duration, which could determine the communication networkparameters for viewing in real time over an communication network,licensing cost, or cost to the content provider to an original source ofthe content, list price to end user, or any other parameters. Forexample, for a game content, important content parameters are format,which could include multiple resolutions targeting multiple user devicesof different size and quality, size of file, which determines how muchcommunication network bandwidth will be consumed and time elapsed todownload, play-time statistics, which could help determine how much timethe user may consume in the game, licensing cost, or cost to the contentprovider to an original source of the game, list price to end user, orany other parameters. For example, for a software program (or upgrade),important content parameters could be format, which could includemultiple user device hardware and software systems (for example such asdifferent versions of Windows or Mac IOS, processor type/speed, minimumRAM requirements, etc.) and resolutions targeting multiple user devicesof different size and quality, size of file, which determines how muchcommunication network bandwidth will be consumed and time elapsed todownload, use-time statistics, which could help determine how much timethe user may utilize the software, licensing cost, or cost to thecontent provider to an original source of the game, list price to enduser, or any other parameters. For an embodiment, the content managermay have to trade off a tablet, 1 GB, 2 hr, HD movie for $2.99 (25%margin) vs. a smartphone, 10 MB, SD game for $0.99 (50% margin) vs. anotebook, 100 MB, $50 (10%) software feature upgrade. Depending on theseparameters and parameters described below the content manager couldpreload one or more of these content items.

Content Provider Information and Content Broker Information

The content distribution system may include one or more contentproviders and one or more content brokers. In an embodiment, one or morecontent provider may include one or more of means to access content (forexample websites, servers, etc.), software and hardware recommended forservice, user devices supported (for example mobile, portable, fixed,etc.), users supported (for example business, consumer, etc.),communication networks supported (for example mobile, broadband, etc.),information about service plans or subscription plans (for example flatfees, pay per use, pre pay, post pay, specials, promotions, sponsoredcontent), library of content, search engines for content, informationabout content, history of content, statistics of content, methods ofdistribution of content (for example broadcast, multicast, unicast, ondemand, PPV, etc.), content manager business rules, for example priorityservice offering or any other content provider information. In anembodiment the content distribution system includes two or more contentproviders, and the user devices and POI devices may require replicationof one or more storage manager or content manager functionality. In anembodiment, the content providers may agree to provide content with thehelp of a content broker. In an embodiment the content providersagreeing to provide content with the help of a content broker results ina simplification for one or more users or the content providers as theone or more storage manager, content managers, user devices, POI devicesand content could be shared and avoid cumbersome or expensive orinefficient replications.

User Parameters

Some examples of relevant user parameters for selection of preloadedcontent include user demographics, user preferences, user inputs, userhistory, etc.

To enhance the content manager operation, it may be advantageous toprovide it with information relative to the user/s. In an embodiment,during service enrolment a user may input a portion of a list ofpreferences. In an embodiment, the user may input a portion of the listof preferences and update additional preferences at a later time. In anembodiment one or more of the user preferences are updated (for examplerefreshed) over time. In an embodiment more than one user has access tothe user device more than one input list of preferences may be helpful.FIG. 12 has an example of a user input table according to an embodiment.For an embodiment, the user/s may input for each user device preferencesrelated to the content type (for example ranked or graded/scaled, couldinclude blocked content, parental control), content format, how muchstorage to reserve for content, if the device is used by a single or alist or a group of users. Also preferred locations where the device willbe used and preferred communication network (for example could be rankedlist, user device could have a exclusive list, preferred list, blockedlist, etc.). The user may input information related to the variouscommunication network data plans available. The user/s may select todisable/enable storage manager or content manager features based onevents or thresholds. For an embodiment, the user may choose to disablecontent preload if the battery power is below a threshold or notconnected to AC charging source or when the user is streaming movies.The user/s may update the information over time.

A content manager may collect user content consumption history userparameters (for example vs. time, location, device, CommunicationNetwork, etc.) in exchange of user input or in addition to user input tofurther assist the content manager. If more than one user, the contentmanager may collect consumption history separately for each user orclassify the one or more users into groups for consumption history inputcollection. This may be more valuable at a POI access network (forexample coffee shop, grocery, etc.) where the target content consumerpopulation is usually larger. This information could include usercontent consumption/purchase vs. type/format/etc. vs. time/locationconsumed at the user devices. This information could further includeupdated usage or predicted usage of communication network data plansrelative to cost/limits/etc. This information could further includeresponses from the user to content manager notifications. For anembodiment, the content manager may notice that a specific content hasnot been used for an amount of time larger than a threshold and notifythe user and request a yes/no answer to whether this content may bedeleted.

In addition the content manager may obtain user current location userparameter or collect/estimate/predict future location (for example work,home, business travel, airport, coffee shop) to determine what contentto preload on the storage elements available to the user currently or inthe future. User may consume or purchase different content at differentlocations. The content could be preloaded on storage associated with theuser device (for example at the POI storage) associated with thelocation. If storage is limited at a user device internal storage, thestorage and content managers may require to swap the content availableas the user changes location.

The user parameters may include information about the past (for exampleuser content consumption history or location history/trace) or mayinclude information about the present (for example a user currentlocation, a current list of preloaded content, a current list of storageelements available to a user device, etc.) or may include informationabout the future (for example predicting future location based onlocation trace or location history, for example predicting futurelocation based on a calendar/schedule, etc.).

In addition to increasing value of content to the content distributionsystem, the content manager may preload content a user may require atthe location (for example pre-stored maps, traffic profiles ordirections from the airport, POI information (for example hotels,restaurants, taxis) in case there is no access network available. Inaddition preloaded (rich) targeted advertisements could be preloaded.

In addition the content manager may collect user parameters such ascurrent or collect/estimate/predict future leisure mode (for exampleworking, walking, eating, business or pleasure traveling, businessmeeting, etc.) to determine what content to preload on the storageelements available to the user.

User/s parameters may be collected without or independently of any userinput or preferences. A content manager may preload the content withoutany user individual selection of the content elements.

In addition the content manager may collect user parameters such ascontent consumption or purchase behavior vs. time of day, day of week(for example could be coupled with location or leisure mode). A user mayprefer to install software weekdays during the morning or watch moviesat night or install apps on Sundays.

User Device Parameters

FIG. 2 shows an example of a user device and FIG. 9 is a table thatincludes some information that could help the content manager inselecting valuable preloaded content according to an embodiment. For anembodiment, information associated with processor 201 parameters couldbe helpful deciding the format or version of a game to preload, theoperating system installed on the storage 204 and/or RAM 202 maydetermine the software or software upgrade or software patch to preload,the one or more available modems (216, 215, 214, 113, 212) could helpdetermine how or when or where to preload the content. The parameters ofthe user interface (for example display resolution and size) could helpdetermine what formats of content to preload. For an embodiment, theprocessor performance or video decoder software installed may determinethe compression format to preload for a movie. In addition, the list ofusers associated with the user device vs. time or location could helpimprove the value of the preloaded content.

Examples of user device parameters relevant to the content manager aredevice type (for example mobile, portable, fixed), device usage location(for example work, home, POI, etc.), shared or single user.

In addition the user device state may also be used as a user deviceparameter. Examples of device state include: current user/s or futurepredicted user/s associated with the device, device powered-up state,device connected to AC or battery powered, remaining battery power,current and predicted communication networks, congestion of theavailable networks, distributed storage status (for example tieredstorage currently associated with the user device), location of thedevice, etc. In an embodiment the user device parameters are updatedover time, wherein parameters could be updated periodically, or based oninterrupts, or based on event, etc.

POI Devices

POI devices include storage elements and access devices that reside atPOI to help provide content to users of user devices or storage elementsassociated to user devices. These include WLAN access points, gateways,reservoirs, etc. that could preload or download selected valuablecontent to be preloaded or downloaded to intended storage associated touser devices or directly to user devices. Example of POI are coffeeshops, restaurants, airports, grocery stores, department stores,libraries, public buildings, parks, sporting venues, etc., where aplurality of users could congregate or associate with. POI devicestypically serve multiple users or multiple user devices. The users couldhave some group parameter (or characteristic) that could help predictwhat content to preload at the POI reservoir to avoid straining theshared access network connection from the POI devices to the contentproviders. For an embodiment, if an access point of a coffee shop has asingle T1 backhaul (1.5 Mbps) it may not be able to support more than acouple of users streaming mobile device (for example smartphone ortablet) quality video. The streaming content may be frequently stallingand buffering for all if more users join the POI access network. To helpa POI content manager, relevant information could include POI accessnetwork parameters to user devices (for example WiFi modem air interfacesupported—11a/b/g/n/ac), coverage area, statistics of data rates withuser devices, current user parameters in coverage area, historical usersparameters (for example profile, history) in coverage area vs. time ofday (for example a coffee shop may have more business customers duringthe day, but more students at night), historical content consumed andpurchased from the POI reservoir. Moreover communication networkparameters from the POI device to the content provider could also berelevant (for example bandwidth, cost structure, QoS, QoE, wired vs.wireless vs. mesh backhaul, etc.). In an embodiment the POI deviceparameters are updated over time, wherein parameters could be updatedperiodically, or based on interrupts, or based on event, etc.

Based on POI parameters above, a POI content manager, at a POI device(maybe vs. time) can preload targeted/selected valuable content, as theplurality of users changes at the POI coverage area. A POI contentmanager could jointly control several POI devices and select contentaccordingly as users may consume and purchase different content when atdifferent POI device.

Communication Network Parameters

A user device or storage element could have access to many types ofcommunication networks (home networks, access networks, broadbandnetworks, cellular networks, POI networks, device bus, etc.), and eachmay include a number of communication network parameters or otherinformation (for example weights, functions, models, relationshipbetween one of the previously described parameters, etc.) that couldhelp increase the value of the content preloaded onto the storageelements. Communication network parameters could include customersatisfaction or QoE, value metric information could include contentconsumed or purchased relative to content cost or any contentsponsoring/ads revenue and/or relative to connectivity or storage cost.The plurality of communication networks could have significantlydifferent performance (for example bandwidth, latency, jitter) andsignificantly different cost structure. Therefore knowledge ofcommunication network parameters could be a key element of a content orstorage manager/s content preloading algorithm/s. FIG. 10 lists someexample communication/connectivity network parameters a user device orstorage may have access to. Parameters may include speed or bandwidth orlatency or jitter statistics (for exampletypical/max/min/histograms/cdfs). Communication network parameters mayinclude cost structure. Cost structure could include set-up costs, costper time period, unlimited usage or max usage or cap per time period,cost of usage above a threshold or cap. Cost structure could includewhom pays for the usage, a user/s, a user device, one or more contentproviders, one or more sponsor, one or more ad provider, a contentbroker, ad broker, etc. A cost structure could include a storage managerfrom a content or ad provider sponsoring the communication network costin exchange for storage allocation of content or ads. The user may payfor usage not related to content preloading or the content provider orcontent broker may pay for communication network usage related to thecontent preloaded. In an embodiment the communication networkinformation is updated over time, wherein parameters could be updatedperiodically, or based on interrupts, or based on event, etc.

The content manager could notify the user device if the desired contentcould not be delivered with adequate QoE given the communication networkparameters or notify about related preloaded content available or othercontent that could be delivered with adequate QoE over the network. Thecontent manager could notify the user device if the desired content isnot allowed by the communication network or if the user preferencesindicate that the user has selected not to allowed the targetcommunication network (for example the user may be invited to overwritethe profile or make an exception). The content manager may also monitorthe communication network data plan usage and alert of usage overruns orpredicted overruns.

The content manager could notify the user device if the desired contentcould not be delivered with adequate QoE given the communication networkparameters or status and notify the user can also purchase the desiredcontent for pick up at a particular location or a future time (forexample home, or at the office).

Test Group Information

An embodiment includes obtaining information associated with the valuemetric for the content based on prior preloading of the content, andevaluating interaction with the preloaded content. For at least someembodiments, the evaluated interaction includes at least one of apurchase, a consumption, a selection, a clicking, a browsing, asearching, a placing in a cart.

An embodiment includes selecting a first plurality of storage elements,preloading at least a portion of the content onto the first plurality ofstorage elements, wherein the first plurality of storage elements areassociated with a first plurality of user devices, and obtaininginformation associated with the value metric from the content preloadedonto the first plurality of storage elements. For at least oneembodiment, the information associated with the value metric includesone or more of likelihood of consumption of the content preloaded ontothe first plurality of storage elements, a cost associated with the ofthe content, a cost associated with the communication network. Further,an embodiment includes selecting a second plurality of storage elementsbased on the information associated with the value metrics obtained fromthe content preloaded onto the first plurality of storage elements andthe second plurality of storage elements, and preloading the contentonto the second plurality of storage elements.

Communication networks, storage elements, user devices, usertime/attention/money, etc. are valuable resources. Prior to preloadingone or more content onto a large number of storage elements it may beuseful to obtain value information (parameters, metrics, functions,models, relationships) over a smaller population of storage elements orPOI devices or users, etc. to avoid wasting system resources.

To improve the value of the content distribution system, value metricsmay be derived for selecting preloaded content based on informationabout the users, information about the user devices, information aboutthe storage elements, information about the communication networks,information about the content, information about the content providers,etc. The value of the content distribution system may improve if theappropriate content is preloaded onto storage elements near theappropriate users, associated to the appropriate user devices, utilizingthe appropriate communication network, at the appropriate time, at theappropriate location, etc., so that the user could consume it. The valuemetric could be a function (could be a model/table/etc.) of one or moreparameters. Each of the variables or parameters could be testedindependently, as a subset, or jointly, or any other combination, etc.In at least one embodiment, a test group is selected, and value metricsderived from the test group are obtained. In at least one embodiment,the test group could be a content, a storage element type, a user devicetype and a set of users. The content could have multiple parameters,such as price, format, size, QoS parameters, etc. the content could bepreloaded onto a subset of storage elements associated with user devicesassociated to a user. In addition, the content could have content rulesassociated with the content that may enable or prevent the content frombeing preloaded to some users, etc. The content selection, viewing,purchasing, interaction, etc., by the target users may be monitored,processed, etc., to obtain or measure or estimate, etc., the value ofthe preloaded content. If the value of the content is desirable it couldbe used to further preload the content onto other users with similarstorage type or similar device type. The set of users could be selectedrandomly, the set of users could be selected based on demographicparameters, the set of users could be selected based on location, theset of users could be selected based on prior content consumption, etc.In another embodiment, the test group could be a type of content, astorage type, a user device type and a set of users. Several contentelements of the same type could be preloaded targeting several userdevices of the same type or a set of multiple users. The multiple userscould be selected randomly, or targeted based on special parameters,etc. The viewing, purchasing, consumption of the several contentelements of the same type could be jointly statistically processed toevaluate the value of multiple content elements of the same type whenpreloaded as a group. In another embodiment, the test group could beseveral content elements, of different types (for example movies, games,videos, etc.) jointly preloaded onto multiple storage elementsassociated to multiple user devices associated to multiple users. Themultiple users could be the same users from a prior embodiment or adifferent set of users. The viewing, purchasing, consumption of theseveral content elements of different types could be jointlystatistically processed to evaluate the value of multiple diversecontent elements. In another embodiment, the test group is a content,several storage elements classified by type, associated to user devicesof a single type, associated to multiple users. The several storageelements classified by type could be flash, SSD, HDD, etc., or could befixed (for example PC, STB, etc.) versus mobile (for example tablet,smart phone, etc.), etc. The viewing, purchasing, consumption of contentpreloaded onto the several storage types could be evaluated. For anembodiment, the relative value metrics of fixed versus mobile storagecould be quantified. In another embodiment, the sensitivity to price isevaluated. The test group is a content or a family of content, a storageelement type associated to user devices of a single type, and a subsetof users. The subset of users be further divided into smaller subsetsand content preloaded onto their associated storage at a different pricefor each subset of users. The viewing, purchasing, consumption of thesame content at different prices is collected. Based on the profit,revenue, user uptake, etc. of each subset of users, value metricinformation for each different price could be compared. The price may betested at the few discrete points, so the value may be obtained only atthese discrete points. In another embodiment the value of the contentcould be extrapolated or interpolated at other price points based on thedata collected from the tested price points. The preferred price pointmay be in between tested price points (for example interpolation) oroutside the set of tested price points (for example extrapolation,etc.). In another embodiment, the value is evaluated over demographiccategories (for example age group, sex, occupation, education level,location, political affiliation, single/married, with/without children,participants of a specific social network, etc.). For an embodiment, acontent or group of content, could be preloaded onto a storage typeassociated to a user device type to a demographic category price ofmarried women with children between 30 and 40. The value of the contentcould be evaluated over a time span, which could assist on the decisionwhether to preload to a larger population of this demographic. Inanother embodiment, the value metric information is evaluated over time.For an embodiment, a test group may include a set of content, storageelements, user devices, target users, etc. and The value metricinformation generated by the test group is monitored at specific timeintervals (for example every hour, every day, every week, or any othertime interval, etc.). In this manner, the value metric informationgenerated by each time interval could be evaluated or estimated, and thetime the content is exposed to a set of users could be selected. If thevalue metric information of a content after a time period drops below athreshold, it may be beneficial to delete the content, or exchange itfor a different content with value metric above the threshold.Alternatively, instead of deleting the content it could be placed on alower priority menu, or a less visible ranking, display menu, etc. Inanother embodiment, the value metric information is evaluated over timeof day. For an embodiment, a test group may include one or more of a setof content, storage, devices, target users, etc. The value metricinformation could be evaluated over time intervals related to targetuser activities. For an embodiment, 6 AM to 8 AM for morning commute, 8AM to 12 PM for morning work, 12 PM to 1 PM for lunch break, 1 PM to 6PM for afternoon work and 6 PM to 11 PM for home/evening activities. Thevalue metric information of the target content on the target storage onthe target devices associated to the target users could be evaluated foreach of these time intervals. Based on the value metric information ofthe target content relative to other available content for each of thesetime intervals a decision to store, display, rank, delete, swap, thetarget content relative to other content could be made to improve thevalue metric.

In another embodiment, value metric information of joint relationshipsbetween content are evaluated/obtained/estimated/etc. The jointrelationships could be correlations between content, sequences ofcontent consumption, relative value between content, cannibalizationbetween content, etc. For an embodiment, consumption of a specificcontent may increase the likelihood of consumption of a second content,and therefore the value metric of the joint set of content may be higherthan the value metric of each separately. For an embodiment, consuming amusic video from a specific singer may increase the likelihood ofconsuming a second music video from the same singer. For an embodiment,consumption of a specific content may delay the likelihood ofconsumption of a second content. The value of the first content standalone may be high, but its effects on subsequent consumption of contentmay reduce the value metric of the combined content. For an embodiment,consuming an addictive videogame may delay the consumption of othervideogames, or any other content.

In another embodiment, the information of the value metric of thepresentation/display of information related to a content to a set ofusers is evaluated. The presentation could be a pop-up, a banner, abubble, a relative ranking, a special font, a special background, apreview, a sample, etc. or any other method to highlight the targetcontent relative to other content.

In another embodiment, information about the value metric is estimatedrelative to repeat consumption. In another embodiment, information aboutthe value metric of several subscription plans is evaluated. In anotherembodiment, information about the value metric is estimated based onuser intent, viewing, zooming, selection, previewing,

In another embodiment, the value metric information measured from thetest group is refined (for example normalized, reduced, increased,scaled, etc.) to correct for test group/market errors or biases. Therefinement may be based on prior test experiments.

In another embodiment, value metric information of content businessrules are tested/obtained/etc. The content business rules may includecoupons, specials, temporary promotions, discounts, free trials, freewith ads, etc.

In another embodiment, the content business rules of modified or refinedbased on the value metric information from the original business rules.

In another embodiment, the value metric information is evaluatedrelative to a location. The location could be a POI. The location couldbe a POI type. The location could be a home network. The location couldbe a work network.

In another embodiment, the value metric information is measured relativeto content format (for example mobile, HD, SD, 1080p, 720p, etc.).

In another embodiment, the value metric information is evaluated bytesting several previously described parameters simultaneously. Theinformation collected from testing several parameters simultaneouslycould be used to generate a multidimensional model of the value relativeto the several parameters. The multidimensional model of the value couldreveal combinations of parameters that result in increased value thatmay not be apparent by evaluating each parameter independently. For anembodiment, the model could be a Bayesian belief network model, Bayesianstatistics, Bayesian analysis, hidden Markov models, etc.

In another embodiment, obtaining the value metric information associatedwith a test group, includes one or more of the following steps:designing the test, executing the test to generate data, preparing thedata, importing the data, preparing the data for modeling, specifyingfactors manually or discovering factors automatically, creating factors,interpreting the model, applying the model for prediction, etc.

In another embodiment, the measured/estimated/modeled/etc. value metricinformation is shared with the storage manager, content manager, contentprovider, content broker, etc. to further evaluating the value metricfor future content preload selection or content business rules orstorage element or user device, users, etc. to be targeted.

In another embodiment, a subset of the value metric information relativeto the user consumption of the content is shared. A subset may result inless chatter over the communication network, improved privacy to theuser, etc. the subset of the information may be different depending onthe destination. For an embodiment, a content manager located at theuser device may have more information than a content manager at acontent broker server, which may have more information than a contentmanager at a content provider server, etc.

In another embodiment, the value metric information is estimated basedon monitoring user interaction with content, for example browsing,search, viewing, zooming, selecting, choosing, purchasing, ordering,cart insert, experiencing, repetitions over time, etc.

In another embodiment, the value metric information is obtained forcontent preloaded may be (rich) ads or include ads.

In another embodiment, the test group is user centric (where centriccould be based on, focused on, biased towards or from the perspectiveof, etc.), or user device centric, or storage element centric, or homenetwork centric, or POI centric, or product/content centric, or contentprovider, or content broker centric, or service provider centric, etc.

In another embodiment, the test group is changed adaptively oriteratively.

In another embodiment, alarms or notifications are generated based onthe value metric information observed during the test group evaluation.

The efficiency of a content distribution system could be improved byselecting one or more subsets of users or user devices or POI locations,etc., and provide associated storage elements with preloaded content.The content manager/s could monitor the statistical consumption andpurchase behavior (for example uptake rate) of the one or more subsetsand decide what content to preload to larger populations of users oruser devices or POI locations, etc. This reduces preloading content thatmay consume/waste storage space or communication network bandwidth withcontent that is not valuable. For an embodiment, from a population of10,000 coffee shops in a system, the POI of the reservoir of 100 (or 1%)of these could be preloaded with a specific content at a specific price.Based on the user consumption or purchase a decision to preload to theremaining 99% coffee shops could be determined. In a second embodiment,price elasticity could be determined. For an embodiment, 3% of the POIreservoirs could be preloaded with a specific content with each of threesubgroups of 1% priced at low, medium, high levels. The statisticalvalue metric of these 3 subgroups (for example “uptake times(price−cost)”) could be used to price the remaining 97% of the POI. In adifferent embodiment, user devices are classified by type (for examplesmartphone, tablet, notebook) and a target content is preloaded onto 100instances of each type. Consumption or purchase statistics or othervalue metric information are collected per group and used by the contentmanager for future content preloading. In a different embodiment, usersare classified by income (for example <$30K, >=$30K) and a targetcontent is preloaded onto 100 users of each type. Consumption orpurchase statistics are collected per group and used by the contentmanager for future content preloading. Test market/group value metricinformation could be further collected per user demographics (forexample age group, sex, occupation, leisure status), per time of day,per day of week, per communication network, per POI, per contentprovider, per content type, per content format or any other parameter ofthe user, user device, storage element, location, time, content,communication network, etc. and folded back into content manager valuemetric or profitability analysis for future content preloading.

The statistical information could be managed by a content broker. Thestatistical information from the test market could be shared with thecontent providers. The statistical demographic, price elasticity, etc.data could be used by the content provider for improved pricing orimproved uptake, or improved targeted content or targeted ads to theappropriate demographics, etc.

User Device Associated Storage

At a given location and time the user device could have one or moreassociated storage elements. A storage manager could discover and/orupdate the available associated storage automatically or with help fromthe user device or user, etc. The storage elements available to the userdevice could include local storage on the user device, or storage thatcould be accessed over communication networks, such as home gateways,POI reservoirs, etc. These storage elements could be classified intotiers, based on the communication distance (for example latency,bandwidth) and storage parameters (for example size, available space,access type—HDD, SSD, flash) to the user device. The content managercould assign different content amounts or types or sizes into differenttiers automatically. The user may have a better content QoE by streamingfrom a POI reservoir from a nearby gateway with preloaded content over afaster local communication network without having to access a slower andmore costly cellular mobile access network. The user may not need topre-select content and could have instant availability without anyplanning needed. Content can be sent directly to each tier.

Content for gateway can be chosen based on multiple user devices thatmay be near gateway. Stored content at the tier that is easiest for theuser to get to (for example based on location, time, user deviceconsumption) can be designated as nearest to the gateway. Typicallylower storage tiers have more storage capacity and are less portablethan mobile devices.

Notifications

Notifications could be presented to the user at a user device interfaceby one or more storage managers or content managers or device SW ordevice agents or device applications at the user device, or at storageelement, or home network device, or POI device, or content providerserver, or content broker server, etc. Notification could includecontent information (for example content lists, types, format, price,availability, rules, etc.), updated content information, new content,stale content, specials, communication network status, communicationnetwork updates, associated storage, tier storage, etc. Notification canbe presented based on when content file has been stored. A notificationcan also be presented based on location or time of day when a particularcontent has been preloaded. For an embodiment, a notification could be:“I noticed you are at the airport, here is some content that isavailable at your device”. Notification messages may be informative (forexample a list of content and price) or may require user responses oractions (for example: “content A has not been consumed in 7 days, do youwant to delete”). Notifications may include new preloading services orfeatures, upgrades in service, status of service plan, etc.Notifications may include information to improve the preloading service(for example update preferences, permission to share parametersassociated with the user, survey responses, etc.). Notification messagesmay include updates on communication network state (for exampleavailable/marginal/out-of-coverage, entering new network, exitingnetwork, etc.) that may influence content preloading services (forexample preloading service availability, cost of preloading new contentor consuming existing or future content, content availability, etc.).Notification requests may include inquiries for future state of a userof the service (for example future location, future activities, futureleisure mode, etc.)

Value Metric

In an embodiment, a value metric can generally be defined as a value ofa function or model or state machine, etc., that comprises one or moreof a user parameter, a user device parameter (HW, SW, etc.), associatedstorage element parameters, a communication network that may be used inselecting valuable content to be preloaded. The value metric may includea cost or price parameter. For an embodiment, a value metric functionfor a Content_A, may be:(if available storage>X GB)*(user device processor performance>Y)*(userlikelihood consumption)*(price of Content_(—A))where ‘*’ is the multiplication operation.

For an embodiment, the value metric includes information associated withother content available on the storage element. For an embodiment, thecost parameter of the value metric includes information associated withat least one of a communication network assisting in the preloading ofthe content, the storage element. For another embodiment, the costparameter includes information associated with at least one of acommunication network assisting in presenting the content at a userdevice.

An embodiment includes determining an association of the storage elementwith a plurality of user devices, and wherein the value metric is basedon the plurality of user devices or a plurality of users associated withthe plurality of user devices.

For an embodiment, the value metric comprises at least one parameter,wherein at least one of the parameters provides an estimate of alikelihood that one or more users associated with the storage elementwill consume the content.

For an embodiment, the value metric includes a function or model of oneor more value metric parameters, wherein a selection of the function ormodel or selection of the one or more value metric parameters is basedon the service provider's perspective, wherein the service providercomprises at least one of a content broker or a content provider. Foranother embodiment, the selection of the function or model or selectionof the one or more value metric parameters is based on a user'sperspective.

For an embodiment, the value metric further includes a parameterassociated with one or more of the plurality of content. For anembodiment, the parameter can be related to projected profit associatedwith each of the plurality of content. For at least some embodiments,the parameter associated with one of more of a plurality of contentincludes at least one of a content cost, a content size, a content type,a content format, and/or content software or hardware requirements forcontent playback.

For an embodiment, the value metric includes a parameter associated withthe storage element. For at least some embodiments, the parameterassociated with the storage element comprises at least one of a storageelement cost, a storage element opportunity cost, a storage elementsize, an available storage element size, a storage element type, astorage element access speed, a storage element latency, a storageelement throughput, a communication network parameter of the storage

For an embodiment, the value metric includes a parameter associated withthe communication network. The value metric includes a parameterassociated with the communication network and are described under valuemetric sections, and may include availability, performance, cost,quotas, caps, etc.

Embodiments further include actions taken based on the value metric. Forexample, one embodiment includes assisting in deleting of at least aportion of a second content available on the storage element. For anembodiment, selecting the at least a portion of the second content todelete based on a second value metric. Another embodiment includesassisting in moving at least a portion of a second content available onthe storage element to a second storage element associated with a useror user device.

Value metric information (for example parameters, weights, etc.) may beobtained from virtual or real world sources. For an embodiment valuemetric information may be obtained from a users' user device activity(for browsing history, content interaction history, etc.) or informationof the user available on the internet (public or private sources, etc.)or information of the virtual or real world social networks associatedwith a user (for example value metric information of siblings, valuemetrics of coworkers/classmates, or value metric information of virtualfriends, etc.)

Value metric information may be gathered locally at a user device, orremotely at a POI device or network entity server, etc. The value metricinformation may be gathered at a single location or gathered at multiplelocations. Value metrics may be obtained at a single location orobtained at multiple locations. Multiple value metrics may be combinedat a single location. A content selection for preloading may involvecomputing more than one value metric by one or more entities. For anembodiment a network element—for example a content broker server—maycompute a value metric based on value metric information from a userdevice and a content provider for selecting a content to be preloaded tothe user device. The user device may compute a second value metric basedon a user parameter. The joint or combined value metric may be utilizedfor a decision to preload or not a content. The first value metric maybe used to preload the content, and the second value metric may be usedto make decisions to delete or move the content from the user device,etc.

It may be beneficial to select content to preload based on valuemetrics. Value metrics may be obtained from a value metric function ormodel and may include one or more value metric parameters, one or moreweights or one or more relationships between the value metricparameters, resulting in different interpretation/goals/priorities/etc.of the value metric. Value metric could be in one or more units of $,$/user, $/time, user satisfaction, $/GB, $/POI, (number ofusers)>($Threshold),$/(Communication Network), etc. where $ could be anycurrency or monetary or financial unit.

A value metric could be a single value or a vector (multiple values). Avalue metric could be associated to a single content or agroup/plurality of content.

In a content distribution system that includes one or more of users,user devices, storage elements, communication networks, content, contentproviders, content brokers, the user devices, the storage elements, thecontent or the communication networks may be valuable resources that theusers, content brokers and content providers may like to exploit, bypreloading appropriate content on appropriate storage elements overappropriate communication networks. To improve the value of the contentdistribution system to one or more parties may assign value to theelements of the content distribution system with value metrics. A valuemetric could be based on a single parameter or could be derived as acombination of parameters.

A content manager may include improving the value metric of the contentthat is preloaded onto one or more storage elements associated to one ormore user devices that one or more users may consume or purchase orselection of content based on value metric. The content manager may useone or more parameters associated to a user, a user devices, a storage,a communication network, a content providers, a content brokers, etc. asdescribed above. A value metric could be one or more of the currentvalue, future value, expected value, minimum value, maximum value,threshold value, percentile value, etc. The value metric could compriseone or more of increasing/improving/enhancing: user satisfaction, userQoE, user experience, user mobility, user attach rate, user feedback,user purchase rate, user uptake, user loyalty, number of users, usergrowth, user referrals, etc. The value metric could comprise one or moreof reduce cost, reduce user device cost, reduce communication networkcost, reduce content cost, reducing storage usage, etc. The value metriccould comprise increase revenue, increase content revenue, increase userrevenue, increase profit, increase profit margin, increase revenuegrowth, increase battery life, increase number of patrons into a POIestablishment, increase number of ads consumed, increase number of adsclicked, etc. The value metric could benefit one or more users, one ormore user devices, one or more communication network providers, one ormore POI, one or more content providers, one or more ad contentproviders, one or more content brokers, etc. The value could benefit oneor more elements of an entity or one or more elements of multipleentities simultaneously. The value metric target could be different foreach entity or element of an entity (for example the value metric couldbe user satisfaction for user A, cost/month for user B, number ofpatrons for POI A, number of users for content provider A, total revenuefor content provider B and profit/user for content broker A, etc.).

For at least one embodiment, the value metric comprises a computationbased on a single content or a group of content or on all the content onone or more storage elements associated to the user device. A group ofcontent could be a several content of a given type (for example moviesor games, SD or HD, etc.), or several content of a given price, orseveral content on the same storage element, etc. The value metric of agroup could change over time or over location. For an embodiment thevalue metric of a group could be HD movies on home reservoir 120 whenuser device is within coverage area of home network 116, but could be HDmovies in POI reservoir 121 when user device 100 is within coverage areaof a coffee shop with POI access network 112. Similarly all the contentassociated to the user device could change over time and location.

For an embodiment the value metric of a group of content 1 through Ncould be represented as:VM_for_Content_1:N=VM(Content_1, . . . , Content_N,UP,UDP,SEP,CNP, . . .);Where UP, UDP, SEP, CNP represent user parameters, user deviceparameters, storage parameters, communication network parameters.

In this notation the value metric of a single content_N+1 would beVM_for_Content_N+1=VM(Content_N+1, UP, UDP, SEP, CNP, . . . );

The effects of adding the content N+1 to an existing storage elementwith content 1 to N would be represented as:Incremental_VM_for_adding_Content_N+1=VM_for_Content_1:N+1−VM_for_Content_1:N

The effects of deleting the content N to an existing storage elementwith content 1 to N would be represented as:Incremental_VM_for_deleting_Content_N=VM_for_Content_1:N−1−VM_for_Content_1:NThese incremental value metrics for adding or deleting content could beused to increase the value of preloaded content when storage space isavailable or for deleting preloaded content when storage space is low orfor swapping low value content for new content that may be morevaluable. The expressions for adding and deleting could be usedsimultaneously for swapping content. These expressions could be extendedfor adding (or deleting or swapping) groups of content. Theseexpressions could be used for sorting content to be preloaded (ordeleted or swapped).

The value metric for additional content considered for preload could becomputed relative to one or more content previously preloaded on thestorage associated to the user device. An associated storage element maybe full, in which case deleting/moving/swapping of previously preloadedcontent may be required to preload new content, or may have availablestorage. In both cases the new content may affect the value metricsparameters (for example likelihood to consume) of previously preloadedcontent. The previously preloaded content may be moved to a differentstorage element associated to the user device. For an embodiment userdevice 100 may be at within home network 116 and about to leave to go towork network 112, if a content resulting in higher valuable metric isidentified to be preloaded onto the local storage for user device 100over home network 116, a content with lower valuable metric may be movedto home reservoir 120 over home network 116 for a later consumption.This may save communication network cost.

The value metric for a additional group of content may be considered forpreload could be computed relative/jointly to one or more contentpreviously preloaded on the storage associated to the user device. Anassociated storage element may be full, in which casedeleting/moving/swapping of previously preloaded content may be requiredto preload new group of content, or may have available storage. In bothcases the new group of content may affect the value metrics parameters(for example likelihood to consume) of previously preloaded content. Asubset of the previously preloaded content may be moved to a differentstorage element associated to the user device. For an embodiment userdevice 100 may be at within home network 116 and about to leave to go towork network 112, if a group of content resulting in higher valuablemetric is identified to be preloaded onto the local storage for userdevice 100 over home network 116, a content with lower valuable metricmay be moved to home reservoir 120 over home network 116 for a laterconsumption. This may save communication network cost.

Previously preloaded content may be re-distributed over storage elementsassociated to user device 100 to improve value metrics. For anembodiment content in the local storage of user device 100 could bemoved to home reservoir 120 or content on home reservoir 120 could bemoved to the local storage of user device 100 when user device 100 iswithin the coverage area of home network 116. For an embodiment contentthat may be more valuable at work may be moved to the home gateway whenuser device gets home in the evening in exchange for content that may bemore valuable when the user device 100 is at home. The reverse operationcould be performed the following morning prior to user device 100 goingto work.

Previously preloaded content may be deleted to improve value metricsassociated to the remaining previously preloaded content. For anembodiment low value metric content may be deleted from user device 100to increase the likelihood of consuming more rewarding higher valuemetric content.

The value metric function used to compute value metrics may change overtime, or location, or communication network, etc. For an embodiment thevalue metric function that assigns more weight to likelihood ofconsumption of a user associated to user device 100 prior to a longflight will encourage preloading content with higher likelihood ofconsumption so that the user is not disappointed without anyentertainment when out of communication network connection. For anembodiment the value metric function may assign more weight to costreduction when the user associated to user device 100 is at home duringthe weekend when other entertainment choices may be available.

The value metric function may be different for each user or each userdevice, or each storage element associated to each user device. For anembodiment a user associated to user device 100 with an unlimitedcontent flat fee monthly plan may prefer a value metric function thatassigns more weight to hours of content consumption per month. For anembodiment a storage element associated with a user device 100 with verylarge available storage may have a very small weight for storage costvalue metric parameter, but the local storage in user device 100 may belimited and require a large weight to storage usage in the value metricfunction.

Improving a value metric could include one or more of optimization,maximization, minimization, maxmin (maximizing the minimum value),minmax, maximizing a percentile, maximizing or optimizing an expectedvalue, etc.

A value metric could benefit one or more of a user, a plurality ofusers, a content provider, an ad provider, an ad service provider, adbroker, a content broker, an communication network provider, etc.

The value metric could be associated with storage elements, contentelements, user devices, POI storage elements, etc.

Value Metrics Associated to a User Device

Value metrics associated to a user device are those that include one ormore of value metric parameters, value metric parameter relationships,value metric parameter weights, value metric functions of models thatare intended to benefit a user device, or from the point of view orperspective of a user device, etc.

FIG. 14 shows a preloading system according to an embodiment. In anembodiment, the value metric is associated with a user device 100 inFIG. 14 associated to a single user. User device 100, could be connectedto home network 116 (for example a WiFi) or could be connected tonetwork 111 (for example 2G/3G/4G) or could be connected to network 112(for example a work WiFi or coffee shop WiFi). User device 100, when athome could access home reservoir 120 or content provider reservoirs 123or 122, when at work could access POI reservoir 121 or content providerreservoir 122 or 123. When connected to access network 111, the userdevice could access content provider reservoirs 122 or 123. FIG. 15 is atable that includes a sample list of content at home reservoir 120according to an embodiment. In an embodiment, the content includes thefollowing parameters: name, ID number, type, format, size, duration,list price, etc. the content included in the home reservoir could havemore or less content or additional parameters or less parameters. FIG.16 is a table that includes a sample list of content and parameters atPOI reservoir 120 according to an embodiment. FIG. 17 includes a samplelist of content and parameters at content provider reservoir 122according to an embodiment. FIG. 18 is a table that includes valuemetric information associated to a user to obtain value metric forselecting content to be preloaded onto user device 100 according to anembodiment. The value metric parameters included are: type, format,size, duration, price to user, specials or promotions, sponsor servicead revenue, communication network cost, user storage costs, userlikelihood to consume, value metric. In another embodiment, a subset ofthe value metric parameters may be used, or additional value metricparameters may be used. The type parameter may be used to match with auser input profile selection or a user history profile or a parentalcontrol, etc. The format parameter may be used to match the content withthe user device hardware or software capability (for example processorspeed, video decoder software installed, etc.) or it may be used tomatch a user desire (for example SD versus HD, etc.). The size parametermay be used to estimate the communication network costs or to comparerelative to the available storage or to compare relative to the userstorage cost, etc. the duration parameter may be used to estimate a timea user may spend to consume the content or the communication networkspeed or bandwidth requirements (when normalized by size, etc.), etc.The price to user parameter may be used for billing, to estimate thelikelihood the user will consume the content, to estimate the total costof the content of the user, etc. The specials or promotions parametermay be used to entice the user or to reduce the cost, etc. The sponsoredservice or ad revenue parameter may be used to subsidize or reduce thecost of the content to the user, etc. The communication network costincludes and estimate of the cost of preloading the content to the userdevice over a given communication network, etc. the user storage costparameter could be used to estimate the total cost of the content orcould be used as a tax to the content provider for preloading content orcould be an opportunity cost of the storage element, etc. the userlikelihood to consume parameter estimates the likelihood a user willconsume the content. The likelihood of consuming a content could beaffected by other content present at the device, the user location, timeof day, leisure status of user, aging of content, previous consumptionof content, etc. A value metric can be computed from a weightedcombination of one or more of the value metric parameters. Additionalvalue metric parameters may be included.

Value metric parameters may change as the user device changes locationor over time, etc. For an embodiment the communication network cost ofMovie A in FIG. 18 could be 0 when the user device is in the coveragearea of its home network, but could be really costly when thecommunication network is a roaming network. For an embodiment the userlikelihood of watching a movie during business hours could be low, butcould increase during lunch hour or on the way home on publictransportation. Alternatively, price to user, specials, promotions,sponsored services, could vary over time as the content providers orcontent brokers changed the business rules of the content.

In at least one embodiment the value metric is associated with the costof the content consumption per unit of time. This value metric could beobtained by adding the cost columns (for example 1106, 1109, 1110,etc.), and subtracting the subsidies (for example 1107, 1108) andnormalizing by the amount of time the user could enjoy the content (forexample: 1105). In at least one embodiment, the user is only responsiblefor paying the price to use if the content consumption is initiated orcompleted, but typically the communication network cost may be incurredif the content is preloaded whether the content is consumed or not. Inthis case it may be advantageous to penalize the communication networkcost accordingly. For an embodiment the communication network cost maybe normalized (for example divided by) by the likelihood that the userwill consume the content. For an embodiment if a content has a 20%chance of being consumed, the communication network cost could bemultiplied by 5 (=1/20%), since on the average a content with theseparameters would require 5 preloads before being consumed. The userlikelihood to consume parameter is a function of how long of a timewindow is computed over. For this case it may be advantageous toconsider the time interval before the content will be deleted or swappedfor a different content. In many instances normalizing the communicationnetwork cost by the user likelihood to consume will penalize preloadinglarge content over expensive networks, which is not economicallyadvantageous to the user. In at least one embodiment, the user of theuser device, prepays for the storage associated to the user device as aone-time cost item and does not incur any costs per gigabyte per day.But if the user device preloads a large single item that fills up thestorage the value of this content to the user may be low (for example asingle 16 GB game may fill up the flash of a tablet). Therefore methodsto assign a cost to storage used by content may be advantageous. In atleast one embodiment, the storage required by the content is normalized(for example divided) by the available storage. In another embodiment,the storage required is normalized (for example divided) by thelikelihood to consume. In another embodiment the storage required by thecontent is normalized by both the available storage and the likelihoodto consume the content. For example, if a user device has 10 GB ofavailable storage, a 1 GB movie preloaded into this device will occupy10% of the available storage. If this 1 GB movie has a 5% chance ofbeing consumed on the average it will take approximately 20 contentitems with this profile for the user to consume one of them. Theavailable storage will not support 20 content items with this profile,therefore this is may not be a valuable content. Therefore normalizingthe storage required for a content by the available storage and thelikelihood to consume could be a valuable metric to select content to bepreloaded. This value metric quantifies the effective footprint of thiscontent relative to the available storage. Therefore content with alower value would be preferred, and typically a value significantlylower than 1 would be advantageous. This value metric could be comparedto a threshold prior to preloading, or may be used to rank a pluralityof content prior to preloading, or may be used as an opportunity costrelative to the previously preloaded content currently available at thestorage element before making a decision to swap content, for example ifthe storage is full.

In another embodiment, a content provider or a content broker or someother entity is willing to pay for access to the available storage atthe user device. For an embodiment this entity may be willing to pay inunits of dollar per gigabyte per day utilized or a flat fee for apredetermined number of gigabytes per month. This amount could be usedas a reference or an opportunity cost when making decisions to preloadalternative content.

For an embodiment user device 100 may be a tablet with WiFi and cellularcapability located within the coverage of both home network 116 andaccess network 111. Therefore the user device 100 could access to thecontent listed in FIG. 15 for home reservoir 120 or the content listedin FIG. 17 for content provider reservoir 122 or 123. For an embodimentthe user of user device 100 may have selected the profile in FIG. 12,indicating preference for movies and games in HD 720p format in-homeWiFi network for communication network.

In at least one embodiment, a user device value metric for a contentunder consideration is:(if “type” and “format” included in user preferences)*(if comm networkactive)*price/min.

For this example, if the content type does not match or thecommunication network is not active, the value of the “if” statement iszero, otherwise it is one.

After taking into account the user preferences and the content availableat the reservoirs of FIG. 15 and FIG. 17 the user device (for example atablet) is currently connected to, the three content items listed inFIG. 18, Movie A, Game A, Game C currently have value metric greaterthan zero. In this example, a lower value metric would be advantageousto a user of the user device, since the price per hour of contentconsumption is something the user will typical want to minimize (as longas the content is enjoyable). For this example the relatively large andmost expensive item provides the better value. If the value metricincluded a restriction or a cost penalty on the available storage sizeon the table, the value metric could have resulted in a different value.For an embodiment, if the table only had 8 GB of available space, onlythe Movie A would have a value metric greater than zero for this thestorage element.

Value Metrics Associated to a Content Provider

In at least one embodiment value metrics associated to a contentprovider include one or more of value metric parameters, value metricparameter relationships, value metric parameter weights, value metricfunctions of models that are intended to benefit a content provider, orfrom the point of view or perspective of a content provider, etc.

A content provider may have a content provider reservoir (for exampleFIG. 17). The content provider may have access or permission to preloadcontent onto storage elements associated to user devices associated to auser, multiple users, groups of users (for example POI devices) or anyother devices. In at least one embodiment, the content provider assistsin preloading selected content from the content provider reservoir overa selected communication network on to selected storage elementsassociated to the selected user devices targeting the selected usersbased on value metrics associated to a content provider.

Example parameters associated with the content elements that may beuseful to compute value metrics associated to a content provider arelisted in FIG. 17. For example a name, and ID number, a type, a format,a size, a duration, a licensing cost, a list price, or any otherparameters. The parameter type may be used to classify the content andto match a user or group of users or user device profile preferences orprofile history. The parameter format may be used to match the contentto a device capable of presenting it (for example processor power,display resolution, etc.). The size parameter may be used to comparerelative to the available space at the target storage element or thecost of the storage or as an opportunity cost relative to other contentor to rank content, etc. The duration parameter may be used to estimatethe time a user may spend consuming the content or to normalize relativeto the size to compare versus streaming, etc. The licensing cost couldbe the cost the content provider may need to pay the author of thecontent after it is consumed by a user. The list price parameter may bethe price a user may pay for consuming it. In another embodiment, inaddition to parameters associated to the content, the content providermay require additional parameters associated with the user, the userdevice, the user device associated storage, the communication network,or any other parameters. FIG. 19 is a table that includes examples ofadditional parameters that may be used to enhance value metric analysisfrom a content provider perspective or point of view for selectingcontent to preload for a user with user device 100A according to anembodiment. The additional parameters include ad revenue 1208 that an adprovider may be willing to pay the content provider when an ad is viewedin connection with the target content, and communication network cost1209 that the content provider may be willing to subsidize or sponsorfor preloading the content, a user storage cost 1210 the contentprovider may be willing to pay the user for preloading content onto theusers storage, the user likelihood to consume the content 1211, etc. Forexample the user storage cost 1210 could be in units of $/GB/day. For anembodiment, the user likelihood to consume the content 1211 could benormalized to a time period (for example user likelihood to consume over1 day). In at least one embodiment one or more of the parameter valuescould be different for a user or group of users. For an embodiment, auser or group of users or user devices or storage elements may get adiscount from the list price. For an embodiment, a user or group ofusers may have declined inclusion of ads for a premium service. For anembodiment, the likelihood of consumption could be refined for specifictarget users or user devices or storage elements, etc. For anembodiment, the communication network cost 1209 or user storage cost1210 may vary between users. For an embodiment, the ad revenue 1208 forad may vary between users, especially if the ads are targeted to a user.

In at least one embodiment one or more of the parameters listed in FIG.19 are used to compute a value metric prior to preloading onto a targetstorage element associated to a user device associated to a user). In atleast one embodiment, content that is compatible with the user device isconsidered for preloading. In at least one embodiment, content type orformat that matches user profile is considered for preloading. In atleast one embodiment, the list price and the licensing cost are used toselect preloaded content. The difference between list price andlicensing cost could be the profit to the content provider. The previousembodiment does not take into account the likelihood a user will consumethis content. In another embodiment, the difference between list priceand licensing cost are further weighted (for example multiplied by) bythe likelihood the user will consume it over a time interval. For anembodiment, the list price minus the licensing cost jointly multipliedby the likelihood of user consumption over a period of time could be ametric of the estimated profit for this user over this period of time.In another embodiment an ad provider pays the content provider when theuser consumes the content and the associated ads. This ad revenue couldbe added to the value metric. This ad revenue may be weighted by theuser likelihood to consume the content associated to the ad. In anotherembodiment, the content provider is responsible for paying, sponsoringor subsidizing, etc. the communication network cost associated with thecontent preload onto the storage element. In another embodiment thecontent provider is responsible for paying, sponsoring or subsidizing,etc. the communication network cost associated with the content transferfrom the storage element to the user device. In either of the latter twocases it may be advantageous to subtract a communication network cost inthe value metric. Likely the communication network cost will be incurredregardless of the content consumption and may be weighted by their userlikelihood to consume the content. For an embodiment, in FIG. 19, thevalue metric 1212 is based on the following function:(if correct type)*(if correct format)*((list price−licensingcost+ad_revenue)*(user likelihood to consume)−(storagecost)−(communication network cost)).

In this example content ID#1002 and content ID#1003 do not meet thevalue metric “type” and “format” and the corresponding value could beassigned not valid, not applicable, not available or 0, etc. ContentID#1001 has a positive value metric of 0.25 and content ID#1004 has anegative value metric of −1.28. The main reason for a negative valuemetric for content ID#1004 is that the user likelihood to consume israther low and the content size is rather large, and the storage costand communication network cost is included as a content providerpreloading cost regardless if the content is consumed or not (since it'snot weighted by the user likelihood to consume). Based on FIG. 19,content ID#1001 may be preloaded onto user device 100A (for example atablet), but contentlD#1004 may not be preloaded onto user device 100A.

FIG. 20 is a table that summarizes a second example for evaluating valuemetrics from a content provider perspective for a second user device100B (for example a tablet) according to an embodiment. For thisembodiment, user device 100B is located within the coverage area of ahome gateway with a large attached storage with 10× lower cost, and WiFicommunication network, which does not incur communication network cost.For this embodiment the value metric is based on the function below:(if correct type)*(if correct format)*((list price−licensingcost+ad_revenue)*(user likelihood to consume)−(storagecost)−(communication network cost)).

For this case the value metric of content ID#1004 is positive and higherthan the value metric of content ID#1001, mainly because thecommunication network cost and user storage cost are relatively low.

In another embodiment the value metric of a content includes a divide bya time to consume the content. For an embodiment, the value metrics incolumn 1212 of FIG. 19 could be further normalized by the durationcolumn 1205 to obtain a value in units of expected profit per timeperiod.

In another embodiment, value metrics are evaluated to make decisionsregarding deleting content. FIG. 21 is a table that includes an exampleof an update to FIG. 19 at a later time, where content ID#1001 and 1004are currently preloaded onto user device 100A according to anembodiment. In this example, at a later time, content ID#1001 likelihoodto be consumed has dropped from 25% to 3% and content ID#1004 likelihoodto be consumed has dropped from 15% to 10%. The communication cost isnot applicable, because the content is already preloaded. If the valuemetric for deletion is based on:(if correct type)*(if correct format)*((list price−licensingcost+ad_revenue)*(user likelihood to consume)−(storage cost)).

Based on value metric above, content ID#1001 currently has a negativevalue metric since the expected benefits no longer offset the storagecost based on the reduced likelihood of consumption. Content ID#1004 hasa positive value metric but may still be considered for deleting inexchange for new content if the value metric of the new content is morevaluable.

In another embodiment, value metrics are evaluated to make decisionsregarding moving content. Moving content may incur and additionalcommunication network cost or may change the user storage cost or userlikelihood to consume. FIG. 22 is a table that includes an example of anupdate to FIG. 20 where the content currently preloaded onto user device100B is considered for moving to a second storage element according toan embodiment. In this example, content ID#1001 likelihood to beconsumed is estimated to drop from 25% to 15% after moving and contentID#1004 likelihood to be consumed has not changed. In this example theadditional communication cost is set to zero, because the content willbe moved over a free home WiFi. If the value metric for deletion in FIG.22 is based on:(if correct type)*(if correct format)*((list price−licensingcost+ad_revenue)*(second user likelihood to consume)−(second storagecost)−(moving cost)).

Based on value metric above, content ID#1001 value metric has droppedbecause the lower cost of storage does not offset the reduced likelihoodor consumption. Content ID#1004 value metric has improved because ofreduced storage cost while user likelihood of consumption has remainedthe same. Based on these value metrics content ID#1001 may remain at thecurrent storage location and content ID#1004 may be moved to the secondstorage element for best value.

In another embodiment value metrics for moving are evaluated for a userperspective or a user device perspective or a storage elementperspective or a content broker perspective or a service providerperspective, etc.

In another embodiment, a user likelihood to consume a content parameteris further based on one or more content currently preloaded at storageelements associated with the user device.

In another embodiment, the user likelihood to consume a contentparameter is based on one or more content previously consumed by theuser.

In another embodiment, the user likelihood to consume a specific contentparameter is based on a particular time interval. For an embodiment, thetime interval could be an hour, 24 hours, 7 days, etc. One or morelikelihoods for a given content could be evaluated simultaneously whenselecting content to preload, remove, swap, etc. Managing content basedon shorter time intervals likelihoods may increase the value metrics butmay also result in more content swapping which may increasecommunication network costs or reduced battery life for portable ormobile devices. In another embodiment, list price minus licensing costsweighted by user likelihood to or consume over a period of time is anindication of expected profit over a period of time for that user oruser device. In another embodiment the ad revenue may be added or thecommunication network costs may be subtracted.

In another embodiment, the value metric is normalized or scaled by theduration of the content consumption. For an embodiment, all otherparameters being comparable, a $0.50 profit for a 5 min. video may bemore desirable than a $3 profit for a 2 hour movie or a $5 profit for agame that a user may play for 20 hours.

In another embodiment, the value metric is normalized by the contentsize. This may be used in addition to storage cost (which could beproportional to content size) or alternatively to storage costs. For anembodiment, all other parameters being comparable a 1 GB game may bepreferred over a 10 GB game. In another embodiment, the content sizenormalization is relative to the available storage size. For anembodiment, the value metric difference between a 10 GB game in a 1 GBis more significant for a device with 16 GB of free storage than adevice with 512 GB of free storage.

In another embodiment the content provider or content broker pays astorage owner/manager for access to a subset/partition of storageavailable to a user. In this case it may be advantageous to compare thevalue metric relative to the storage cost prior topreloading/moving/deleting. This is especially the case if the contentprovider is paying per storage utilized. This may not be the case ifthis content provider has paid for a fixed amount of storage that iscurrently idling.

In another embodiment, the user likelihood to consume one or morecontent is updated based on user history. The history could be based onprior sequences of content consumptions. In another embodiment, the userlikelihood to consume a content is based on other users history (forexample test groups described earlier). In another embodiment, the userlikelihood to consume a content is updated based on the other contentpreloaded on the device (for example in some cases a first content mayincrease the likelihood a second content may be consumed, in other casesa first content may decrease the likelihood a second content may beconsumed).

In another embodiment, one of more of the value metric parametersincluded in the value metric may change over time. This may result in achange of the value metric or may result in a change in the relativevalue of a content currently preloaded or to be preloaded on a targetstorage. Examples of parameters that may change over time our listprice, specials, promotions, rebates, user likelihood to consume, etc.or any other parameters. For an embodiment, the user likelihood toconsume a particular content may change between the early morning,morning, lunch break, afternoon, evening, etc. In another embodiment,one or more of the value metric parameters included in the value metricmay change with the user location or user device location, etc. Inanother embodiment, one or more of the value parameters included in thevalue metric may change with the user leisure mode. For example the usermay be at work, at a coffee shop having coffee, in a park walking, at anairport, or on vacation, etc. For an embodiment, the ad revenue, thecommunication network cost, or likelihood to consume may change withuser leisure mode.

In another embodiment the list of value metric parameters included inthe value metric may change over time. This may result in a change ofthe value metric or may result in a change in the relative value ofindividual content currently preloaded or to be preloaded/deleted on atarget storage element. In another embodiment a relationship or weightbetween value metric parameters included in the value metric functionmay change over time. This may result in a change of the value metric ormay result in a change in the relative value of individual contentcurrently preloaded or to be preloaded/deleted on a target deviceassociated to a user.

Value Metrics Associated to a POI

In another embodiment, the content distribution system includes a POIwith a POI device. The POI device could be owned by the POI, or acontent provider, or a CP Broker, POI service provider, etc. The POIdevice could be an access point, or a gateway, or a router, or a set topbox, etc. The POI device may include storage. The storage associated tothe POI device may be located within the POI device or attached to thePOI device, for example wired (for example Ethernet) or wirelessly (forexample WiFi).

Value metrics associated to a POI are those that include one or more ofvalue metric parameters, value metric parameter relationships, valuemetric parameter weights, value metric functions of models that areintended to benefit a POI, or from the point of view or perspective of aPOI, etc.

In this case the content preloaded onto the storage elements associatedwith the POI device may be of interest to a group of users within thecoverage area of the POI (the group of users could be current or futureor past users). For an embodiment, the user likelihood to consumeparameter may be exchanged for an expected number of users to consumevalue metric parameter. For an embodiment, the communication networkcosts of preloading content onto the storage associated with the POIdevice may be shared by several users. In another embodiment, theexpected number of users to consume value parameter is modified based ona plurality of user (for example number of users, plurality of userprofile, plurality of user history, plurality of likelihood to consumefor a user, plurality of subscription plans of a user, etc.) within thecoverage area of the POI (currently or at a later time). In anotherembodiment, the expected number of users to consume parameter ismodified based on the historical population of users frequenting thisPOI versus time. In another embodiment, the value metric or value metricparameters are adapted more frequently for a POI. This may beadvantageous because parameter values will likely be more dynamic for agroup of users that a single user on a single user device. Moreover, thecommunication network cost of frequent content changes may be amortizedover more users.

In at least one embodiment, the POI business owner/manager modifies thevalue metric parameters or value metric relationships or weightsincluded in the value metric function or model. In another embodimentthe POI business owner/manager modifies the content value metricfunctions to increase the POI business value metrics. For an embodimenta POI that is currently full (for example a coffee shop with noavailable tables) modifies the value metric function to reduce the valueof content that takes a long time to consume or discontinue specials orincrease price, etc. For an embodiment, a POI that is almost emptyincreases the likelihood that current patrons remain at the POI byreducing price of content, offering content specials, biasing the valuemetric functions to increase the quantity of sticky content that takeslonger to consume (for example streaming shows or movies), etc.

In at least one embodiment, the presentation at the user device ofcontent preloaded at storage elements associated to a POI device may becustomized to the user device or the user of the user device. Forexample the POI content may include sports and business news content. Inat least one embodiment a user associated to a user device with interestin business news may have a different menu of preloaded content than auser with interest in sports. In another embodiment the presentation ofcontent may include price, specials, etc. that may be customized to oneof more of the users or user devices at the POI.

In at least one embodiment one or more parameters associated with acontent consumed (could include ads), one or more users or one or moreuser devices located within the coverage area of POI access network 112in FIG. 1 are shared with a POI business owner/manager. In at least oneembodiment these parameters may be used to enhance POI business valuemetrics. These business value metrics may be inventory quantity or mixof product offered at the POI, specials, etc.

In at least one embodiment one or more parameters associated with acontent consumed, or one or more users or one or more user deviceslocated within the coverage area of POI access network 112 are sharedwith a content provider (or a POI service provider). This may be used bycontent provider to refine value metric parameters or value parametersweights/relationships or value parameters included in a value metric forsubsequent value metric evaluation for deleting existing content orpreloading of new content, etc. In another embodiment the contentprovider may use this information for refining business rules associatedto a content.

In at least one embodiment one or more parameters associated with acontent consumed, one or more users or one or more user devices locatedwithin the coverage area of POI access network 112 are shared with thecontent broker. This may be used by content broker to refine valueparameters quantities or value parameters weights or value parametersincluded in value metric functions for subsequent value metriccomputation for deleting existing content or preloading of new content,etc. In another embodiment this information may be used by contentbroker to assist content provider.

Value Metric for Multiple Communication Networks

In at least one embodiment a communication network cost (or some otherparameter) could be a significant component of a value metric associatedto preloading content onto storage or from storage to user devices. Thiscost to the value metric may be paid by one or more of a user,communication network provider, content provider, content broker, POIowner, etc. This could be more pronounced if the likelihood ofconsumption is low (for example the communication network cost could bewasted with very large probability) or if the communication cost perbyte is high, for example over a cellular or cellular roaming accessnetwork. In at least one embodiment more than one communication networkmay be involved. In at least one embodiment a first communicationnetwork assists in preloading a first portion of the content from asource onto a storage element. In at least one embodiment a secondcommunication network assists in preloading a second portion of thecontent from a source onto a storage element. In at least one embodimentthe first portion is significantly larger than the second portion. In atleast one embodiment the second portion is a security element that whenmerged or combined with the first portion enables consumption of thecontent at a user device. In at least one embodiment the first portionis significantly larger than the second portion and is preloaded ontothe storage element over a less costly communication network. In atleast one embodiment the first portion is significantly larger than thesecond portion and is preloaded onto the storage element over a fastercommunication network. In at least one embodiment a second communicationnetwork assists in preloading the content from a first storage elementto a second storage element associated to a user device. The secondstorage element may be located within the enclosure of the user device.In at least one embodiment the communication network cost for assistingin preloading the content from a content source to a storage elementassociated with a user device is paid by a first party (for examplecontent provider) and the cost of preloading from the storage element toa user device presentation element (for example UI) is paid by a secondparty (for example user of user device). In another embodiment one ormore of the cost of the communication networks described above areincluded in one or more of value metrics associated to a user, a userdevice, a content provider, content broker, POI, etc.

In another embodiment a storage element device has access to a modemthat could assist in preloading content that could connect to multiplecommunication networks of the same type (for example WiFi), but may havea different cost structure (for example home WiFi vs. airport pre-payWiFi). In another embodiment the storage element has access to amultimode modem (for example a multiband 2G/3G) with different coststructure (for example home vs. roaming). In another embodiment thestorage element has multiple modems (for example cellular, WiFi, etc.)with different cost structure (for example home vs. roaming).

In another embodiment, a storage element may choose to preloaded contentover 2 communication networks each with a cost structure that may changeover time or location. It may be advantageous to update thecommunication network cost parameter as the storage element enters/exitsthe 2 communication networks. A content of large size may not have adesirable value metric for preloading over a first network, but may beselected for preloading on a second network.

In another embodiment a user device has a modem that could assist inpresenting content that could connect to multiple communication networksof the same type (for example WiFi), each with an associated coststructure (for example home WiFi vs. airport pre-pay WiFi). In anotherembodiment the user device has a multimode modem (for example amultiband 2G/3G) each with a specified value metric cost structure (forexample home vs. roaming). In another embodiment the user device has amultiple modem (for example cellular, WiFi, etc.) with multiple coststructure (for example home vs. roaming).

In another embodiment, a user device may have access to preloadedcontent from associated storage over 2 communication networks withdifferent cost structure at different times or different locations. Itmay be advantageous to update the communication network cost parameteras the user device enters/exits each of the communication networks. Alarge size content that may not have a desirable value metric forconsuming over a first network may be desirable for consuming on asecond network.

A Storage Element Associated to Two or More User Devices

In another embodiment, the content distribution system includes astorage element associated with two or more user devices or two or moreusers. The storage element could be associated with an access point, ora gateway, or a router, or a set top box, etc. that is communicatingwith two or more user devices or two or more users. The storage elementmay be located within or attached to the devices, for example wired (forexample Ethernet) or wireless (for example WiFi).

Value metrics for preloading (or deleting or moving) content at astorage element associated with two or more user devices or users mayinclude one or more of value metric parameters, value metric parameterrelationships, value metric parameter weights, value metric functions ofmodels that are based on one or more of the user devices or one or moreusers.

The value metrics may be based on the perspective (or benefit) thestorage element (owner/manager), or the one or more users or from thepoint of view or perspective of service provider, etc.

In this case the content preloaded onto the storage elements may be ofinterest to a group of users within the communication networkneighborhood of the storage (the group of users could be current orfuture or past users). For an embodiment, the user likelihood to consumeparameter may be exchanged for an expected number of users to consumevalue metric parameter. For an embodiment, the communication networkcosts of preloading content onto the storage element may be shared byseveral user devices or users. In another embodiment, the expectednumber of users to consume value parameter is modified based on aplurality of users (for example number of users, plurality of userprofile, plurality of user history, plurality of likelihood to consumefor a user, plurality of subscription plans of a user, etc.) within thecommunication network coverage area of the storage element (currently orat a later time). In another embodiment, the expected number of users toconsume parameter is modified based on the historical population ofusers frequenting the storage communication network footprint versustime. In another embodiment, the value metric or value metric parametersare adapted more frequently for a storage associated to multiple usersor user devices. This may be advantageous because parameter values willlikely be more dynamic for a group of users that a single user on asingle user device. Moreover, the communication network cost of frequentcontent changes may be amortized over more users.

In at least one embodiment, the storage owner/manager modifies the valuemetric parameters or value metric relationships or weights included inthe value metric function or model.

In at least one embodiment, the presentation at the user device ofcontent preloaded at storage elements associated to a plurality of userdevices or users may be customized to the user device or the user of theuser device. For example the preloaded content may include sports andbusiness news content. In at least one embodiment a user associated to auser device with interest in business news may have a different menu ofpreloaded content than a user with interest in sports. In anotherembodiment the presentation of content may include price, specials, etc.that may be customized to one of more of the users or user devicesassociated with the storage.

In at least one embodiment one or more parameters associated with acontent consumed (could include ads), one or more users or one or moreuser devices located within the coverage area of storage elementcommunication network are shared with a storage owner/manager.

In at least one embodiment one or more parameters associated with acontent consumed, or one or more users or one or more user deviceslocated within the coverage area of the storage element are shared witha service provider or a content provider or a content broker. This maybe used by a service provider or a content provider or a content brokerto refine value metric parameters or value parametersweights/relationships/models/functions or value parameters included in avalue metric for subsequent value metric evaluation for deleting ormoving existing content or preloading of new content, etc. In anotherembodiment the a service provider or a content provider or a contentbroker may use this information for refining business rules associatedto a content.

In at least one embodiment one or more parameters associated with acontent consumed, one or more users or one or more user devices locatedwithin the coverage area of a storage element are shared with thecontent broker. This may be used by content broker to refine valueparameters quantities or value parameters weights or value parametersincluded in value metric functions for subsequent value metriccomputation for deleting existing content or preloading of new content,etc. In another embodiment this information may be used by contentbroker to assist content provider.

Two or More Storage Elements Associated to a User Device

In another embodiment, a user device may have access to 2 or morestorage elements. In a further embodiment the first storage element islocated within the user device, and a second storage element iscommunications network hop away. For an embodiment, a mobile user devicemay have local storage and access to a secondary storage at the homeGateway when at home. The secondary storage at the Gateway may belarger, with more available storage, lower cost per gigabyte of storage,and likely a fast connection when in coverage area of gateway. In atleast one embodiment a value metric of a content may be computed foreach of the two storage elements associated to a user device. Based onthe value metrics, the content may be stored at neither of the storagedevices, one of the storage devices or both storage elements. In oneexample based on a value metric evaluation, a content may not have adesirable value metric for preloading to the mobile user device localstorage, but may have a desirable value metric for preloading onto theGateway. In another embodiment the value metric is re-evaluated overtime and the content may be moved between the two storage elements,copied from one storage element to the other storage element, or deletedfrom one or both storage elements.

In further embodiment, a user device has access to 3 or more storageelements and a value metric for a content is evaluated for a subset(including the full set) of the 3 or more available storage elements. Inanother embodiment extensions of principles described for the twostorage case are applied.

Two Storage Elements Associated to a User

In another embodiment, a user may have access to content available at 2storage elements, for example a smartphone storage and a set-top-boxstorage (for example to display onto a HD TV), or for example a tabletstorage and a home Gateway storage (for example to stream from theGateway onto the tablet), etc. For example, a mobile user device mayhave local storage and access to a secondary storage at a home reservoir(for example home gateway or set top box) when at home. The secondarystorage at the home reservoir may be larger, with more availablestorage, lower cost per gigabyte of storage, and likely a fastconnection when in coverage area of gateway. In at least one embodimenta value metric of a content may be computed for each of the two storageelements associated to a user. Based on the value metrics, the contentmay be stored at neither of the storage devices, one of the storagedevices or both storage elements. In one example based on a value metricevaluation, a content may not have a desirable value metric forpreloading to the mobile user device local storage, but may have adesirable value metric for preloading onto the home reservoir. Inanother embodiment the value metric is re-evaluated over time and thecontent may be moved between the two storage elements, copied from onestorage element to the other storage element, or deleted from one orboth storage elements. As the user changes state (location, leisuremode, time of day, etc.) the value metric associated with each of thestorage elements may change.

In further embodiment, a user has access to 3 or more storage elementsand a value metric for a content is evaluated for a subset (includingthe full set) of the 3 or more available storage elements. In anotherembodiment extensions of principles described for the two storage caseare applied.

A User Associated to a Plurality of User Devices

In another embodiment, a user operates one or more of a plurality userdevices associated to the user. The one or more user devices operated bythe user may change over the time of the day or over locations or vs.leisure modes, etc. In this case it may be advantageous for a contentprovider (or content broker, etc.) to assign value metric parameterassociated to value metrics to a subset of the devices associated to theuser. User profile inputs or user history of content consumption at eachdevice may be used (vs. time/location/leisure mode/etc.). Userinteraction with a device at a given time may be also used. A contentmay be preloaded onto the storage of one, or a subset or all of theplurality of user devices. Different content may be preloaded onto eachof the devices or related content. Content may be swapped/moved betweenthe storage of the plurality of user devices. A value metric for acontent preloaded onto a plurality of devices associated to a user maybe evaluated independently for each device or jointly for the set ofdevices. A content may be preloaded onto one device associated to auser, but maybe not the other based on value metrics.

Value Metrics Associated to a Content Broker

Value metric parameters, parameter values, weights, relationships,functions, models, state machines, etc., associated to a content brokermay vary depending on the content broker embodiment. It is to beunderstood while several embodiments for value metric associated with acontent broker are described, this is not an exhaustive list.Alternative value metrics associated to a content broker may be easilyderived based on the embodiments below.

In at least one embodiment, the content broker is compensated by one ormore content providers for assistance in the content distributionsystem. The assistance may include obtaining value metric information,assistance in classifying storage elements for preloading, assistance inselecting valuable content to be preloaded, assistance in preloadingvaluable content.

In at least one embodiment, the content broker is compensated by acontent provider or user based on the number of content units preloaded.In at least one embodiment, the content broker is compensated based onthe preloaded content presentation duration. In at least one embodiment,the content broker is compensated based on the preloaded contentconsumption duration.

In at least one embodiment, the content broker assists a contentprovider in selecting a content to be preloaded to a storage element.For this embodiment the content broker may receive compensation based ona fraction of a value metric, a percentage of a value metric, a fee, apreloaded content consumption, a user interaction with a preloadedcontent, etc. for providing this service. In at least one embodiment thevalue metric is a value metric designed to benefit a content provider.For an embodiment a content broker may assist a content provider inselecting content to be preloaded as summarized in FIG. 19 based on avalue metric and receive a fraction of the value metrics generated.

In at least one embodiment, the content broker assists a contentprovider in preloading a content to a storage element. For thisembodiment the content broker may receive a compensation based on afraction of a value metric, a percentage of a value metric, a fee, apreloaded content consumption, a user interaction with a preloadedcontent, etc. for providing this service. In at least one embodiment thevalue metric is a value metric designed to benefit a content provider.For an embodiment a content broker may assist a content provider inpreloading content summarized in FIG. 19 based on a value metric andreceive a fraction of the value metrics generated.

In at least one embodiment, the content broker assists a contentprovider in preloading a content to a storage element by obtaining valuemetric information. For this embodiment the content broker may receive acompensation based on a fraction of a value metric, a percentage of avalue metric, a fee, a preloaded content consumption, a user interactionwith a preloaded content, etc. for providing this service. In at leastone embodiment the value metric is a value metric designed to benefit acontent provider. For an embodiment, a content broker may assist acontent provider in preloading content summarized in FIG. 19 byobtaining value metric information about the storage, the user devices,the users, the likelihood to consume, etc., for evaluating a valuemetric and receive a fraction of the value metrics generated.

In at least one embodiment, the content broker assists a contentprovider in deleting a preloaded content from a storage element byobtaining value metric information. For this embodiment the contentbroker may receive a compensation based on a fraction of a value metricimprovement from deleting the content, a percentage of a value metric, afee, a preloaded content consumption, a user interaction with apreloaded content, etc. for providing this service. In at least oneembodiment the value metric is a value metric designed to benefit acontent provider. For an embodiment, a content broker may is a contentprovider in deleting preloading content summarized in FIG. 21 byobtaining value metric information about the storage, the user devices,the users, the likelihood to consume, etc., for evaluating a valuemetric and receive a fraction of the value metrics improvementsgenerated.

In at least one embodiment, the content broker assists a contentprovider in moving a preloaded content from a storage element byobtaining value metric information. For this embodiment the contentbroker may receive a compensation based on a fraction of a value metricimprovement from moving the content, a percentage of a value metric, afee, a preloaded content consumption, a user interaction with apreloaded content, etc. for providing this service. In at least oneembodiment the value metric is a value metric designed to benefit acontent provider. For an embodiment, a content broker may assist acontent provider in moving preloading content summarized in FIG. 22 byobtaining value metric information about the first and second storage,communication network, the user devices, the users, the likelihood toconsume, etc., for evaluating a value metric for a source anddestination storage and receive a fraction of the value metricsimprovements generated.

In at least one embodiment, a content broker obtains value metricinformation from a plurality of storage elements, one or more contentproviders, content associated with the one or more content providers andone or more of a population of users devices, a population of users,communication networks. Based on this information the content broker mayevaluate value metrics for preloading content that benefits the contentbroker.

For an embodiment, a content broker may identify a storage elementassociated to a user device and user and obtain value metric informationof the storage (for example available storage, storage cost, etc.), ofthe user device (for example hardware and software available, etc.), ofthe user (for example preference, history, state, etc.). Based on theseparameters the content broker may search the content databases of theone or more content providers and select a list of content forpreloading onto the storage element. The content broker value metric maytake into account specials or rebates from one or more of the contentproviders for preloading content. The content broker value metric maytake into account ad supported or sponsored the content. The contentbroker value metric may take into account a communication network costfor preloading or consuming the content. The content broker value metricmay not take into account a communication network cost for preloading orconsuming the content if the user is responsible for communicationnetwork cost or if the communication network usage is free. The contentbroker value metric may take into account storage element cost. Thecontent broker value metric may not take into account a storage elementcost if the user is responsible for storage element cost or if thestorage element usage is free. The content broker value metric may takeinto account a user likelihood to consume a content. The user likelihoodto consume a content may be based on the interactions (for exampleconsumption, presentation, selection, etc.) of other users with thecontent. The user likelihood to consume a content may change over time.The user likelihood to consume a content may change based on user stateparameters. The content broker value metric information may change overtime. For an embodiment, the content broker value metric information maychange over time based on changes of content provider offerings,specials, etc. or changes in the user state, or changes in theconnectivity between the storage elements in the user devices, etc.

In at least one embodiment, a content broker obtains value metricinformation from a plurality of storage elements and one or more of apopulation of users devices, a population of users, communicationnetworks associated with the plurality of storage elements. Based onthis information the content broker may evaluate value metrics forpreloading content. In an embodiment, based on this information thecontent broker may classify a subgroup of storage within the pluralityof storage associated to a subgroup of one or more user devices, users,communication networks and offer to one or more Content providers. In atleast one embodiment classifying may comprise one of more ofidentifying, segmenting, selecting, clustering, ranking, characterizing.For an embodiment, the classified subgroup or preloading opportunitycould be a population satisfying the following {flash storage up to 1GB, flash storage on a portable device, associated user age groupbetween 20-40 yrs, associate user is soccer fan, communication networkcost free 12 hrs/day}. In at least one embodiment the content brokercould offer a preloading opportunity to one or more content providers.In at least one embodiment the content providers may bid for thepreloading opportunity. In at least one embodiment the content brokeraccepts the bid if its above a threshold. In at least one embodiment thecontent broker accepts the largest bid from the one or more contentproviders. In at least one embodiment the threshold is based on a valuemetric that benefits the content broker. In at least one embodiment thecontent broker may set a minimum value for the preloading opportunity.In at least one embodiment the content broker may set a minimum valuebased on a value metric that benefits the content broker. In at leastone embodiment a storage element may be classified into two or morepreloading opportunities. In at least one embodiment a storage elementmay be classified into two or more preloading opportunitiessimultaneously. For example a storage element may have 2 GB of availablestorage and 1 GB could be assigned to a first preloading opportunity(for example {flash storage up to 1 GB, flash storage on a portabledevice, associated user age group between 20-40 yrs, associate user issoccer fan, communication network cost free 12 hrs/day}) and the 1 GBcould be assigned to a second preloading opportunity (for example {flashstorage up to 1 GB, flash storage on a portable device, associate userlikes comedy shows after 8 pm, communication network cost free between 6pm-8 am}). In at least one embodiment a storage element availablestorage may be classified into one of a plurality of preloadingopportunities. In at least one embodiment the available storage isoffered to more than one preloading opportunity population for bidding.In at least one embodiment a preloading opportunity is assigned based ona value metric of a content broker or content provider or a bid from acontent provider. For example a storage element with 1 GB of availablestorage could be offered as {flash storage up to 1 GB, flash storage ona portable device, associated user age group between 20-40 yrs,associate user is soccer fan, communication network cost free 12hrs/day} or {flash storage up to 1 GB, flash storage on a portabledevice, associate user likes comedy shows after 8 pm, communicationnetwork cost free between 6 pm-8 am}. In at least one embodiment thecontent broker could obtain the value metric for each of thesepreloading opportunities. In at least one embodiment the content brokercould offer both of these content opportunities to one or more contentproviders. In at least one embodiment the content broker assigns thecontent opportunity to the content provider or content with mostfavorable value metric or the most favorable bid.

In at least one embodiment, a content provider may select an offer for apreloading opportunity. In at least one embodiment, a content providermay select value metric information requirements (or restrictions, orcriteria, or recommendations, etc.) that may be used by a content brokerfor selecting preloading opportunities. In at least one embodiment, acontent broker offers preloading opportunities by allowing a contentprovider to specify desirable properties of the preloadingopportunities. In at least one embodiment, a content broker offerspreloading opportunities to a content provider assisted by a UI. In atleast one embodiment, the content provider may provide restrictions toone or more of user parameters, user device parameters, communicationnetwork parameters, associated to the storage element for inclusion inthe preloading opportunity offer. In at least one embodiment, a contentbroker may offer content preloading opportunities through a website or aUI where the content provider may select one or more users parameters(for example demographics, state, history, etc.) associated with thestorage element. In at least one embodiment, a content broker may offercontent preloading opportunities through a website or a UI where thecontent provider may select one or more user device parameters (forexample HW or SW requirement, display capabilities, etc.) associatedwith the storage element. In at least one embodiment, a content brokermay offer content preloading opportunities through a website or a UIwhere the content provider may select one or more communication networkparameters (for example performance, availability, cost, etc.)associated with the communication network. In at least one embodiment, acontent broker obtains value metric information for selecting preloadingopportunities prior to the content provider selections. In at least oneembodiment, a content broker searches for preloading opportunities basedon content provider responses to preloading opportunity offers.

For an embodiment, a content broker identifies a storage elementassociated to a user device and a user and obtains value metricinformation of the storage (for example available storage, storage cost,etc.), of the user device (for example hardware and software available,etc.), and of the user (for example preference, history, state, etc.).For a further embodiment, the content broker offers the storage elementto one or more content providers for bidding. For a further embodiment,based on the received bids from one or more content providers and thevalue metric information, the content broker searches the contentreservoirs of the one or more content providers and selects a list (oralternatively a queue or rank) of content for each of the one or morecontent providers for preloading onto the storage element.

For a further embodiment, based on the parameters the content brokersearches the content reservoirs of the one or more content providers andselects a list (or alternatively a queue or rank) of content for each ofthe one or more content providers for preloading onto the storageelement and requests a bid.

Value Metrics Jointly Associated to a Plurality of Entities

In addition to value metrics associated to, based on, from theperspective of or favoring a user, a set of users, a POI, a contentprovider, a content broker, etc., (of which several embodiments havebeen described above), value metrics could be derived by combiningdesirable value metrics or value metric parameters into new or joint ormulti-valued or vectored value metrics that could benefit two or moreuser or network entities in the content distribution systemsimultaneously. For an embodiment, a value metric includes twocomponents. The first component of the value metric vector may beevaluated by a content broker from the perspective of a content providerand the second component of the value metric includes a vector thatcould be evaluated by the user device from the perspective of a user ofthe user device. In at least one embodiment, a Content_A may bepreloaded when VM(Content_A)={VM_1,VM_2} wherein the first component ofthe value metric VM_1>Threshold1 and the second component of the valuemetric VM_2>Threshold2. In another embodiment a list of content isgenerated based on VM_1>(VM_1 of median of content of content provider),that is content that is in the top 50% of value metric based on contentprovider information. Furthermore a list of content is generated basedon VM_2>(VM_2 of 10 percentile or user), that is the content that is inthe top 10% from the user perspective. In another embodiment only thecontent that satisfies both criteria above (top 50% from contentprovider point of view and top 10% from the user point of view) ispreloaded. In at least one embodiment content that satisfiesVM_1>Threshold1 is preloaded to a user device, but content thatsatisfies VM_2<Threshold2 is deleted by the user device. In anotherembodiment content that satisfies VM_1>Threshold1 is preloaded to a userdevice, but content that satisfies Threshold2<VM_2<Threshold3 is movedas directed by the user device to a second storage element associated tothe user.

Many other embodiments or extensions of example above are possible. Inother embodiments any other relationship between VM_1 and VM_2 may beused. The value metric vector may have more than two elements orcomponents. In at least one embodiment a value metric includes anelement associated to a content provider, a content broker and a user.In another embodiment a value metric includes an element associated to acontent provider, a first user and a second user, both associated to thesame storage element (for example husband and wife sharing a set topbox). For an embodiment, a target preloaded content list may include allcontent such that VM(content)={VM1, VM2, VM3}, where VM1 is associatedto content provider and VM2 and VM3 are associated to two users of astorage element and VM1>Threshold_A and (VM2+VM3)>Threshold_B. That isthe combined value metric for both users should be larger than athreshold. In another embodiment with vectored value metrics, the vectorelements are combined into a single joint or combined value forpreloading content selections. In at least one embodiment the individualvalue metric elements are added. In another embodiment a norm of thevalue metric vector is evaluated (for example norm 1, norm 2, norminfinity, etc.).

Alternatively different entities could evaluate value metricsindependently and content could be preloaded (or deleted or moved, etc.)based on each of the value metrics in a sequential or serial or parallelfashion. In at least one embodiment a content broker obtains or computesone or more of the value metric information, parameters, vectorelements, etc. from more than one entity and combines or jointlyprocesses the value metric information. In at least one embodiment acontent broker obtains a value metric from one entity and shares with asecond entity for combines or joint value metric evaluation. In at leastone embodiment a content broker obtains a value metric parameter or avalue metric for a content (or value metric for a list of content) froma user and shares the value metric/s with a content provider. In atleast one embodiment a network entity (for example content broker orcontent provider or service provider or Cloud server) selects a firstcontent for preloading based on a the network entity value metric andpreloads (for example pushes) the content to a storage element while aprocessor associated with the storage element selects a second contentfor preloading based on a user value metric and preloads (for examplepulls) the second content.

Notification of Preloaded Content

An embodiment includes assisting in presentation of information relatedto the content to a user device associated with the storage element. Foran embodiment, the information is based on communication networkparameters between the user device and the storage element,

For an embodiment, the presented information is based on user deviceparameters. The user device parameters can include hardware and/orsoftware capabilities of the user device. For another embodiment, thepresented information includes content parameters of the content, suchas, for example, cost, format, and/or size of the content.

An embodiment includes notifying a user associated with the storageelement that the content has been preloaded.

For an embodiment, information presented at a user device is based onparameters of a user associated with the user device. The userparameters can include user profile, user preferences, user history,user consumption history, user demographics, user state leisure state,user location, user analytics, user real or virtual network, etc. For anembodiment, the presented information is based on parameters of aservice provider, content provider, content broker, ad broker, adprovider, etc. In at least one embodiment the presented information isbased on value metric information. In at least one embodiment preloadedcontent information includes value metric information. In at least oneembodiment content is sorted based on value metric information, one ormore value metric parameters. In at least one embodiment contentpresentation is sorted based value metric from a user point of view or acontent provider point of view or a content broker point of view.

FIG. 29 shows a user device 2910 and a service provider 2909 to assistin notifying of preloaded content according to an embodiment. Userdevice 2910 includes storage 2915 comprising preloaded content storage2916, a preloaded content list 2911, a preference store 2912, a activitydetection 2913, a content offer selection/priority 2914 and userinterface driver 2917. User device 2910 may include additional functionsor less functions then included in the example embodiment in FIG. 29.Service provider 2909 includes a content downloader 4000, a preloadedcontent lists 2901, a preference store 2902, a activity detection 2903,a content offer selection/priority 2904. Service provider 2909 mayinclude additional functions or less functions then included in theexample embodiment in FIG. 29. In FIG. 29 several functionalities areincluded in the user device 2910 and the service provider 2909. For eachfunction, the functionality may be present only at user device 2910 oronly or service provider 2909 or may operate jointly or maybe replicatedat user device 2910 and service provider 2909. For an embodiment,preloaded content list on the user device 2910 may be managed bypreloaded content list 2911 or may be managed by preloaded content lists2901 or may be managed jointly. The preloaded content list 2911 andpreloaded content list 2901 functions may exchange information to keepthe lists up to date. In at least one embodiment, information associatedwith content preloaded into preloaded content storage 2916 is presentedto one of more users associated with user device 2910 or one or moreusers associated with storage 2915. Targeted information of preloadedcontent that is selected/prioritized/ranked correctly may result inincreased value to the system. In at least one embodiment, preloadedcontent list 2911 monitors the content available at preloaded contentstorage 2916. For an embodiment, preloaded content list 2911 may includename, ID, value parameters such us type, format, size, duration, price,cost, communication network or storage cost, etc. In at least oneembodiment, preference store 2912 may include value parametersassociated to one or more users associated user device 2910. For anembodiment, value parameters may include a user profile, a userpreference, a user history, a user analytics, etc. In at least oneembodiment, activity detection 2913 may include the state of the userdevice 2910 or one or more users associated with user device 2910. Thestate of the user device 2910 may include powered down, hibernated,sleep mode, active, stationary, moving, location, etc. The state of auser associated to use the device 2910 may include working, shopping,watching TV at night, eating dinner, etc. In at least one embodimentbased on information from one or more of preloaded content list 2911 orpreloaded content list 2901, preference store 2912 or preference store2902, activity detection 2913 or activity detection 2903, the functioncontent offer selection/priority 2914 may select a subset of the contentitems preloaded content storage 2916 to present information to a user ofuser device 2910. The selected subset of content items to presentinformation of, may be prioritized (or ranked or presented in differentformats, etc.) to encourage consumption of more valuable content. In atleast one embodiment the priority is based on value metric. In at leastone embodiment the information of the selected subset of content itemsincludes a variable cost from one or more of storage cost, communicationnetwork cost, content cost, etc. In an embodiment the information of theselected subset of content items includes communication networkparameters (speed, latency, QOS, etc.) or storage element parameters. Inanother embodiment the selection/priority is performed by content offerselection/priority 2904 or shared between content offerselection/priority 2914 in content offer selection/priority 2904.

FIG. 30 shows a content storage 3000 and content ad offerselection/priority 3025 to assist in presenting ads associated withpreloaded content according to an embodiment. Content storage 3000comprises a plurality of content, including content 1 3001, content 23002 and content N 3003. Each content element may have an associated adto help promote or encourage the consumption of the content. For anembodiment, content 1, 3001 may be associated to content 1 ad, 3011. Thefunction content ad offer selection/priority 3025 may select a subset ofcontent ads to be presented at a user device assisted by user interfacedriver 3026. The selected subset of content ads to be presented may beprioritized (or ranked, or formatted, etc.). The selection of the subsetor the priority may be based on a value metric. The selection of thesubset of the priority may be based on one or more of preloaded contentlist 3021, activity detection 3022, preference store 3024, etc.Preloaded content list 3021, activity detection 3022, preference store3024 functionality may be included on a device associated to a user (forexample a user device or associated storage element) or may be includedon a device associated to the network (for example a server associatedto a content provider, content broker, service provider, etc.) or thefunctionality may be shared or jointly processed between one or moredevices associated to a user and one or more devices associated to anetwork.

Access Control

FIG. 31 shows a user device 3100 coupled to a content distributionsystem over two communication networks according to an embodiment. Whiletwo communication networks 3111, 3110 are shown, it is to be understoodthat any number of two or more communication networks can be utilizedfor the described embodiments. In an embodiment, user device 3100includes one or more of the following functionalities: access control3101, consumer analytics agent 3102, optimizer 3103, access rules 3104,preloaded content 3108, content ads (or offers) 3107, user interfaceagent 3106, or other apps 3105. In an embodiment access control 3101monitors or maintains the status of the communication networks 3111 or3110, wherein status includes one or more of connectivity, coverage,performance, cost, usage vs. communication network service plan, etc. Inan embodiment access control 3101 determines if one or more of thecommunication network 3111 or communication network 3110 may beutilized. In an embodiment access control 3101 selects one of thecommunication networks 3111 or 3110 for content distribution system datausage. In an embodiment access control 3101 is included in user device3100 to offload computational complexity from other entities of thecontent distribution system. In an embodiment access control 3101 isincluded in user device 3100 to offload computational complexity fromother entities of the content distribution system, such as one or moreof content distribution servers, network entities, communication networkentities, cloud entities, etc. In an embodiment access control 3101 isincluded in user device 3100 to improve the privacy to user device 3100or a user of user device 3100. In an embodiment access control 3101 isincluded in user device 3100 to improve the privacy to user device 3100or a user of user device 3100 by reducing the amount of informationabout the user device 3100 or a user of the user device 3100 with anetwork entity. In an embodiment access control 3101 is included in userdevice 3100 to reduce communication overhead of sharing informationavailable at user device 3100 used for selecting a communication network3111 or 3110 with a network entity. In an embodiment, access control3101 denies data usage of one or more functions of the contentdistribution system over one or more communication networks. In anembodiment, consumer analytics agent 3102 monitors or maintainsparameters associated with one or more users of the user device 3100(for example preferences, usage history or predictions, demographics,etc.), parameters associated with the user device 3100 (for exampletype, HW/SW, etc.). In an embodiment, access rules 3104 comprises one ormore of maintain or enforce content preloading rules (for exampleexamining content type or content restrictions), maintain or enforcerules associated to the content consumption, maintain or enforce rulesassociated to the content ads, or maintain or enforce rules associatedwith the communication network 3111 or communication network 3110. In anembodiment, preloaded content 3108 is the content preloaded by thecontent distribution system available at a storage element coupled tothe user device 3100. In an embodiment, content ads 3107 includes adsassociated to the preloaded content 3108 preloaded by the contentdistribution system available at a storage element coupled to the userdevice 3100. In an embodiment content ads 3107 are utilized to entice auser to consume preloaded content 3108. In an embodiment, user interface3106 is used for one or more of presenting content or content ads orcontent lists at a UI. In an embodiment the UI facilitates consumptionof preloaded content. In an embodiment, other apps 3105 are included atuser device 3100. In an embodiment other apps 3105 support the contentdistribution system, and include one or more of content compressors,decompressors, encryption, decryption, transcoding, etc.

In an embodiment, user device 3100 is connected over communicationnetwork 3111 or 3110 to network entity functionality. While thepreviously described one or more content provider servers are not shown,it is to be understood that that at least some of the embodiments of theone or more content distribution servers include at least a portion ofthe network entity functionality shown. In an embodiment, the networkentity functionality comprises one or more of content (ad) downloader3121, usage accounting 3122, transaction server 3123, optimizer 3124,preloaded content and ads list 3125, content (reservoir) 3126 or contentads (offers) 3127. In an embodiment one or more of the network entityfunctionality is performed by a service provider. In an embodiment aservice provider is responsible for content downloading. In anembodiment one or more of the network entity functionality is performedby a content provider. In an embodiment a content provider isresponsible for maintaining or managing content 3126 or content ads3127. In an embodiment one or more of the network entity functionalityis performed by a content broker. In an embodiment a content broker isresponsible for maintaining or managing preloaded content and ads list3125. In an embodiment a content broker is responsible for optimizer3124. In an embodiment the network entity functionality is split orshared between two or more of content provider, content broker, serviceprovider or cloud service. In an embodiment content (ad) downloader 3121assists in downloading content or content ads selected by optimizer 3124for preloading onto preloaded content 3108 or content ads 3107 of userdevice 3100. In an embodiment, usage accounting 3122 monitors (whereinmonitors may be exchanged for updating or maintaining or billing) one ormore of a communication network usage by one or more contentdistribution functionalities. In an embodiment, usage accounting 3122monitors communication network data usage of content (ad) downloader3121 over communication network 3111 or 3110. In an embodiment, usageaccounting 3122 monitors communication network data usage by optimizer3124.

In an embodiment, usage accounting 3122 is performed or assisted by userdevice 3100. In an embodiment usage accounting 3122 is performed by acontent provider or content broker or service provider or cloud service.In an embodiment, usage accounting 3122 is assisted or classified oraccounted by a user credential or a user device credential. In anembodiment, usage accounting 3122 is performed on a user device 3100 byidentifying data flows associated with a content distribution system. Inan embodiment, usage accounting 3122 is performed on a user device 3100by identifying applications associated with a content distributionsystem. In an embodiment, usage accounting 3122 is performed on a userdevice 3100 by identifying network end points associated with a contentdistribution system. In an embodiment, usage accounting 3122 isperformed at the communication network (for example, communicationnetworks 3110, 3111) (for example WWAN) by identifying a data flowassociated with a content distribution system and a client credential oruser device 3100 credential or user credential. In an embodiment, usageaccounting 3122 is performed at the communication network (for exampleWWAN) by identifying an application associated with a contentdistribution system and a client credential or user device 3100credential or user credential. In an embodiment, usage accounting 3122is performed at the communication network (for example WWAN) byidentifying a network end point associated with a content distributionsystem and a client credential user device 3100 credential or usercredential. In an embodiment, usage accounting 3122 is performed at acontent distribution system network entity by identifying a device oruser or client credential associated with data flows.

In an embodiment transaction server 3123 assists a user to consume apreloaded content item in preloaded content 3108. In an embodiment,transaction server 3123 includes one or more of receiving a request forconsumption of a preloaded content item in preloaded content 3108,requesting or receiving an authorization for consumption, requesting orreceiving a payment for consumption from user device 3100, requesting orreceiving a security certificate, delivering a security key, requestingor receiving a confirmation of payment requesting or receiving anauthentication element. In an embodiment content 3126 is a plurality ofcontent (wherein plurality of content is, for example, a reservoir)available for preloading. In an embodiment content ads (wherein contentads, are for example, offers) 3127 comprise a plurality of content adsthat may be preloaded onto storage elements associated with user devices(including user device 3100). In an embodiment content ads 3127encourage (wherein encourage may be substituted for entice or promote)consumption of preloaded content. In an embodiment preloaded content andads list 3125 includes list of preloaded content or preloaded adsavailable at storage elements associated with one or more user devices3100.

In an embodiment optimizer 3124 selects content or content ads fromcontent 3126 or content ads 3127 for preloading onto user device 3100over one or more communication networks 3110, 3111. In an embodimentoptimizer 3124, selects content for preloading onto user device 3100from content 3126 based on consumer analytics 3102. In an embodimentoptimizer 3124, selects content for preloading onto user device 3100from content 3126 based on a value metric associated with one or more ofa user of user device 3100 parameters, user device 3100 parameters,communication network 3111 or 3110 parameters. In an embodimentoptimizer 3124 selects content for preloading onto user device 3100 fromcontent 3126 based on content available on preloaded content 3108. In anembodiment optimizer 3124 selects content ads for preloading onto userdevice 3100 from content ads 3127 based on content available onpreloaded content 3108. In an embodiment optimizer 3124 selects contentads for preloading onto user device 3100 from content ads 3127 based oncontent ads available on preloaded content ads 3107. In an embodimentoptimizer 3124 selects content for preloading onto user device 3100 fromcontent 3126 based on preloaded content and ads list 3125. In anembodiment optimizer 3124 selects content for preloading onto userdevice 3100 from content 3126 based on access rules 3104. In anembodiment, optimizer 3124 prioritizes presentation of informationassociated to preloaded content 3108. In an embodiment, optimizer 3124prioritizing presentation of information associated to preloaded content3108 includes one or more of ranking, sorting, highlighting, formatting,notifying, placement, discovery of preloaded content element informationto facilitate a selection of a preloaded content element by a user ofuser device 3100. In an embodiment, optimizer 3124 prioritizingpresentation of information associated to preloaded content 3108includes updating or adapting or modifying the one or more of ranking,sorting, highlighting, formatting, notifying, placement, discovery ofpreloaded content information to facilitate a selection of a preloadedcontent ad element by a user of user device 3100. In an embodiment,optimizer 3124 prioritizing presentation of information associated topreloaded content 3108 includes updating or adapting or modifying theone or more of ranking, sorting, highlighting, formatting, notifying,placement, discovery of preloaded content element information tofacilitate a selection of a preloaded content element by a user of userdevice 3100 based on changes in value metric information (for examplechanges in parameters associated with a user, user device, orcommunication networks, etc.).

In an embodiment, optimizer 3124 prioritizing presentation ofinformation associated to preloaded content 3108 includes presentationof information associated to preloaded content ads 3107. In anembodiment, optimizer 3124 prioritizing presentation of informationassociated to preloaded content 3108 includes presentation of preloadedcontent ads 3107. In an embodiment, optimizer 3124 prioritizingpresentation of information associated to preloaded content 3108includes one or more of ranking, sorting, highlighting, formatting,notifying, placement, discovery of preloaded content ad elementinformation to facilitate a selection of a preloaded content ad elementby a user of user device 3100. In an embodiment, optimizer 3124prioritizing presentation of information associated to preloaded content3108 includes updating or adapting or modifying the one or more ofranking, sorting, highlighting, formatting, notifying, placement,discovery of preloaded content ad element information to facilitate aselection of a preloaded content ad element by a user of user device3100. In an embodiment, optimizer 3124 prioritizing presentation ofinformation associated to preloaded content 3108 includes updating oradapting or modifying the one or more of ranking, sorting, highlighting,formatting, notifying, placement, discovery of preloaded content adelement information to facilitate a selection of a preloaded content adelement by a user of user device 3100 based on changes in value metricinformation (for example changes in parameters associated with a user,user device, communication networks, etc.).

In an embodiment optimizer 3103 selects content or content ads fromcontent 3126 or content ads 3127 for preloading onto user device 3100over one or more communication networks 3110, 3111. In an embodimentoptimizer 3103, selects content for preloading onto user device 3100from content 3126 based on consumer analytics 3102. In an embodimentoptimizer 3103, selects content for preloading onto user device 3100from content 3126 based on a value metric associated with one or more ofa user of user device 3100 parameters, user device 3100 parameters,communication network 3111 or 3110 parameters. In an embodimentoptimizer 3103 selects content for preloading onto user device 3100 fromcontent 3126 based on content available on preloaded content 3108. In anembodiment optimizer 3103 selects content ads for preloading onto userdevice 3100 from content ads 3127 based on content available onpreloaded content 3108. In an embodiment optimizer 3103 selects contentads for preloading onto user device 3100 from content ads 3127 based oncontent ads available on preloaded content ads 3107. In an embodimentoptimizer 3103 selects content for preloading onto user device 3100 fromcontent 3126 based on preloaded content and ads list 3125. In anembodiment optimizer 3103 selects content for preloading onto userdevice 3100 from content 3126 based on access rules 3104. In anembodiment, optimizer 3103 prioritizes presentation of informationassociated to preloaded content 3108. In an embodiment, optimizer 3103prioritizing presentation of information associated to preloaded content3108 includes one or more of ranking, sorting, highlighting, formatting,notifying, placement, discovery of preloaded content element informationto facilitate a selection of a preloaded content element by a user ofuser device 3100. In an embodiment, optimizer 3103 prioritizingpresentation of information associated to preloaded content 3108includes presentation of information associated to preloaded content ads3107. In an embodiment, optimizer 3103 prioritizing presentation ofinformation associated to preloaded content 3108 includes presentationof preloaded content ads 3107. In an embodiment, optimizer 3103prioritizing presentation of information associated to preloaded content3108 includes one or more of ranking, sorting, highlighting, formatting,notifying, placement, discovery of preloaded content ad elementinformation to facilitate a selection of a preloaded content ad elementby a user of user device 3100.

In an embodiment, optimizer 3124 functionality described above may beperformed at optimizer 3103. In an embodiment, optimizer 3124 andoptimizer 3103 functionality described above is shared or performedjointly between optimizer 3124 and optimizer 3103.

In an embodiment, one or more of content (ad) downloader 3121, usageaccounting 3122, transaction server 3123, optimizer 3124, preloadedcontent and ads list 3125, content 3126, content ads 3127 communicationor session data exchanges with user device 3100 over the one or morecommunication networks 3111 or 3110 are over a secure link. In anembodiment, one or more of content (ad) downloader 3121, usageaccounting 3122, transaction server 3123, optimizer 3124, preloadedcontent and ads list 3125, content 3126, content ads 3127 communicationor session data exchanges with user device 3100 over the one or morecommunication networks 3111 or 3110 are over a secure link based on auser device 3100 credential. In an embodiment, one or more of content(ad) downloader 3121, usage accounting 3122, transaction server 3123,optimizer 3124, preloaded content and ads list 3125, content 3126,content ads 3127 communication or session data exchanges with userdevice 3100 over the one or more communication networks 3111 or 3110 areover a secure link based on a user device 3100 credential associatedwith a data flow. In an embodiment, one or more of content (ad)downloader 3121, usage accounting 3122, transaction server 3123,optimizer 3124, preloaded content and ads list 3125, content 3126,content ads 3127 communication or session data exchanges with userdevice 3100 over the one or more communication networks 3111 or 3110 areover a secure link based on a user device 3100 user credential. In anembodiment, one or more of content (ad) downloader 3121, usageaccounting 3122, transaction server 3123, optimizer 3124, preloadedcontent and ads list 3125, content 3126, content ads 3127 communicationor session data exchanges with user device 3100 over the one or morecommunication networks 3111 or 3110 are over a secure link based on auser device 3100 client credential.

In an embodiment communication network 3111 is a WWAN (wireless widearea network). In and embodiment the WWAN communication network is oneor more of a cellular, 2G, 3G, 4G, WiMax, etc. access network. In anembodiment communication network 3110 is a LAN or PAN. In an embodimentthe LAN or PAN communication network 3110 is one or more of Ethernet,WLAN, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc. In an embodiment, LAN or PAN communicationnetwork 3110 is a home WiFi or POI WiFi or work WiFi. In an embodimentLAN or PAN communication network and is further connected to the contentdistribution system network entities over a broadband communicationnetwork. In an embodiment the broadband communication network is one ofmore of xDSL, Cable Modem, T1/E1, Fiber, etc.

In an embodiment WWAN communication network 3111 data usage costparameter is higher than LAN or PAN communication network 3110 datausage cost parameter. In an embodiment, access control 3101 controls oneor more content distribution functionality data usage based on networktype or network capacity or network changes or network cost. In anembodiment, a subset of content distribution functionality communicationnetwork usage is restricted to a subset of the available communicationnetworks 3110, 3111. In an embodiment preloading content with data sizeabove a threshold is permitted over a LAN or PAN communication network3110 and are not permitted over a WWAN communication network 3111. In anembodiment, preloading content ads (or offers) with data size below athreshold is permitted over WWAN communication network 3111. In anembodiment, preloading content ads (or offers) with value matricexceeding a threshold is permitted over WWAN communication network 3111.In an embodiment data session usage exchanges between a user device 3100and one or more of usage accounting 3122, optimizer 3124, preloadedcontent or ads list 3125 are permitted over WWAN communication network3111. In an embodiment, transaction server 3123 data session usageexchanges with a user device 3100 are permitted or prioritized overother transactions to facilitate preloaded content purchase orconsumption. In an embodiment, access control 3101 specifically preventsor specifically allows each content distribution system communicationsession functionality over one or more communication network 3110, 3111based on network type, capacity or cost. In an embodiment contentdistribution system control information data usage (consumptiontransactions, usage accounting, user account info, user preferences,authentication, authorization, billing) is allowed over all availablecommunication networks 3110, 3111. In an embodiment content distributionsystem content preloading is allowed over a subset of availablecommunication networks 3110, 3111. In an embodiment the subset ofcommunication networks 3110, 3111 for preloading are free (or free peruse—for example a flat monthly fee without a cost per usage)communication networks 3110, 3111.

FIG. 32 shows a user device 3100 coupled to a content distributionsystem over two communication networks according to an embodiment. In anembodiment, the user device 3100 comprises stack 3201. In an embodimentstack 3201 exchanges data with a content distribution system over one ormore communication networks 3111 or 3110 without selecting orrestricting data usage over the one or more communication networks 3111or 3110.

In the embodiment of FIG. 32, access control 3215 is in-line with thecontent distribution system data exchanges, but is not included withinuser device 3100 functionality.

In an embodiment, access control 3215 functionality is included at anetwork entity. In an embodiment access control 3215 is included in anetwork entity to offload computational complexity from a user device3100. In an embodiment access control 3215 is included in a networkentity to offload computational complexity from other entities of thecontent distribution system. In an embodiment access control 3215 isincluded in a network entity in-line with the content distributionsystem data transmission to offload computational complexity from aplurality of entities of the content distribution system. In anembodiment access control 3215 is included in a network entity toimprove the privacy or security of information available at one or morenetwork entities from a user device 3100 or a user of user device 3100.In an embodiment access control 3215 is included in a network entity toreduce communication overhead of sharing information available at one ormore network entities used for selecting a communication network 3111 or3110, with user device 3100.

In an embodiment, access control 3215 functionality is included at oneor more of content broker, content provider, service provider, cloudservice. In an embodiment access control 3215 is included in a contentbroker or cloud service to offload computational complexity from one ofmore of a user device 3100, content provider or service provider. In anembodiment access control 3215 is included in a content broker or cloudservice to improve the privacy or security of information related touser device 3100 or a user associated with user device 3100. In anembodiment access control 3215 is included in a content broker or cloudservice to improve the privacy or security of information related touser device 3100 or a user associated with user device 3100 by notsharing sensitive information with a plurality of content providers orservice providers.

In an embodiment, access control 3215 includes one or more of thefunctionality in embodiments described for access control 3101.

FIG. 33 shows a user device 3100 coupled to a content distributionsystem over two communication networks according to an embodiment. In anembodiment, the user device 3100 comprises stack 3201. In an embodimentstack 3201 exchanges data with a content distribution system over one ormore communication networks 3111 or 3110 without selecting orrestricting data usage over the one or more communication networks 3111or 3110.

In the embodiment of FIG. 33, access control 3325 is off-line with thecontent distribution system data exchanges. In an embodiment accesscontrol 3325 obtains information associated with the contentdistribution system from one or more user entities or network entitiesto select usage of communication network 3111 or 3110 for contentdistribution system data exchanges. In an embodiment access control 3325grants or allows or recommends or restricts content distribution systemdata usage between one or more user entities and one or more networkentities to select usage of communication network 3111 or 3110 forcontent distribution system data exchanges. In an embodiment accesscontrol 3325 grants or allows or recommends or restricts contentdistribution system data usage by one or more user entities to selectusage of communication network 3111 or 3110 for content distributionsystem data exchanges. In an embodiment access control 3325 grants orallows or recommends or restricts content distribution system data usageby one or more network entities to select usage of communication network3111 or 3110 for content distribution system data exchanges.

In an embodiment, access control 3325 enables secure data exchangesbetween or more content distribution system user entities (for exampleuser device 3100 stack 3201) and one or more content distribution systemnetwork entities (for example content (ad) downloader or transactionserver 3123). In an embodiment, access control 3325 enables secure dataexchanges between or more content distribution system user entities (forexample user device 3100 stack 3201) and one or more contentdistribution system network entities (for example content (ad)downloader or transaction server 3123) since access control 3325 doesnot need to identify one or more content distribution data exchanges. Inan embodiment, access control 3325 enables secure data exchanges betweenor more content distribution system user entities (for example userdevice 3100 stack 3201) and one or more content distribution systemnetwork entities (for example content (ad) downloader or transactionserver 3123) since access control 3325 does not need to perform deeppacket inspection (DPI) or identify flows of one or more contentdistribution data exchanges. In an embodiment access control 3325 isoff-line with content distribution system data exchanges to offloadcomputational complexity from other entities of the content distributionsystem (for example by avoiding data flow identification, DPI, etc.). Inan embodiment access control 3325 is off-line with the contentdistribution system data transmission to offload computationalcomplexity from a plurality of entities of the content distributionsystem. In an embodiment access control 3325 is off-line to improve theprivacy or security of information available at one or more networkentities from a user device 3100 or a user of user device 3100. In anembodiment access control 3325 is off-line to reduce communicationoverhead of sharing information available at one or more networkentities used for selecting a communication network 3111 or 3110, withuser device 3100.

In an embodiment at least part of access control 3325 functionality isincluded in user device 3100. In an embodiment, at least part of accesscontrol 3325 functionality is included at a network entity. In anembodiment, access control 3325 functionality is included at one or moreof content broker, content provider, service provider, cloud service. Inan embodiment, access control 3325 includes one or more of thefunctionality in embodiments described for access control 3101. In anembodiment, access control 3325 obtains information associated tocommunication network 3111 or 3110 status. In an embodiment, accesscontrol 3325 obtains information associated to communication network3111 or 3110 status comprising one or more of communication networkavailability, coverage, performance, cost, etc. In an embodiment, accesscontrol 3325 obtains information associated to communication network3111 or 3110 status from stack 3201. In an embodiment, access control3325 obtains information associated to access rules 3104. In anembodiment, access control 3325 obtains information associated to accessrules from a network entity. In an embodiment, access control 3325obtains information from optimizer 3103 or optimizer 3124. In anembodiment, access control 3325 obtains information from optimizer 3103or optimizer 3124 comprising one or more of classified, prioritized,ranked or sorted content queues or content ad queues for preloading ontouser device 3100. In an embodiment access control 3325 grants orrestricts access to communication networks 3111 or 3110 to one or moreof content (ad) downloader 3121, optimizer 3124, transaction server3123, usage accounting 3122, preloaded content and content ads list3125. In an embodiment access control 3325 grants or restricts access tocommunication networks 3111 or 3110 based on one or more of userparameters, user device 3100 parameters, communication networkparameters 3111 or 3110, content parameters, network entity parameters,network entity sponsoring services, network entity sponsoring servicesassociated to a user or user device account. In an embodiment accesscontrol 3325 grants or restricts access to communication networks 3111or 3110 based on value metric.

Service Plans

An embodiment includes obtaining, by the service provider, a permissionbefore preloading the at least a portion of the content, andcompensating, by the service provider, an entity with financialownership of the storage element.

Another embodiment includes receiving, by the service provider, apermission before preloading the at least a portion of the content, andreceiving compensation, from a user of the content, for consumption ofthe content preloaded on the storage element or the service ofpreloading content to the storage element.

In an embodiment a user device is a mobile device and is capable ofconnecting to a wireless wide area communication network (for examplecellular, 2G, 3G, 4G, etc.) and a local area communication network (forexample a home WiFi, POI WiFi, or Bluetooth, etc.).

In an embodiment a network entity preloading management service (forexample a cloud preloading service by a content broker or contentprovider, etc.) determines a refreshed user preference information,wherein refreshed user preference information includes obtaining userpreference information and updating the user preference information. Inan embodiment, the updating may performed periodically (for example at apredetermined time intervals) or may be performed by a polling functionfrom the management service (for example when HW or SW resources of themanagement service are available) or may be performed based oninterrupts generated by an triggering event (for example a user devicebeing powered up, a user logging into the user device, the user deviceentering the coverage area of a communication network, etc.). In anembodiment user preference information comprises user parameters (forexample desired content type, demographics, location, users' devicetype, likelihoods, association with other users, etc.).

In an embodiment the preloading management service determines refreshedcontent preloading priority information, wherein refreshed contentpreloading priority information includes obtaining content preloadingpriority information and updating the content preloading priorityinformation. In an embodiment the content preloading priorityinformation includes one or more of content parameters (for exampletype, format, etc.), content business rules (for example metadata forinserting ads, number of views, limited consumption period, etc.),information associated with a content provider managing the content (forexample bidding or offer parameters between preloading managementservice and content provider, etc.). In an embodiment the refreshed userpreference information or the refreshed content preloading priorityinformation are user do create a preloading refresh list of content(wherein the list may comprise a queue or a sort or a rank or a group,etc.). In an embodiment the refresh list is generated. In an embodimentthe refresh list is updated. In an embodiment the refresh list isupdated based on refreshed user information or refreshed contentpriority information until the refreshed list of content is preloaded.In an embodiment the refreshed list of content comprises preloadedcontent to be added to other content available at a storage device. Inan embodiment the refreshed list of content comprises preloaded contentto be deleted from content available at a storage device. In anembodiment, the refreshed user preference information or refreshedcontent priority information is used for a user device content discoverypriority function (for example a device agent or app, or contentinformation presentation function, etc.) for defining an aspect of howcontent is to be prioritized in on-device content usage/purchase offers.

In an embodiment an intermediate storage element (for example a storagereservoir at a home gateway, set top box, POI storage, etc.) isconnected to a local area communication network (WLAN, LAN, PAN, etc.)and wide area communication network (for example a broadband DSL, CableModem, fiber to the home, T1/E1, backhaul, etc.). In an embodiment theintermediate storage element trickle charges valuable user content asdetermined by the network entity preloading management service. In anembodiment, valuable content includes one or more of content likely tobe consumed or purchased by one or more users or high profit margin, orlow cost.

In an embodiment the intermediate storage element is configured toreceive refreshed prioritization of device preloaded content from thenetwork entity preloading service that determines lists of content toremove and lists of content to add.

In an embodiment the intermediate storage element preloads (or deletes)content onto one or more user devices based on refreshed prioritizationcontent. In an embodiment the intermediate storage element refreshes(for example preloads or deletes) content onto the one or more storageassociated to user devices (for example the storage coupled to the userdevice) when the one or more user devices are connected to a sharedlocal area communication network.

In an embodiment user preference information is collected from themobile user device and sent to a networking entity service (for examplea cloud service) while the mobile device is connected to a wide areacommunication network. In an embodiment the mobile user device is notconnected to the local area communication network but is connected tothe mobile network when the user preference information is obtained andsent to the network entity (for example cloud cache management service)

In an embodiment a networking entity service determines the refreshedcontent preloading priority (for example ranks or sorts the list orqueue of content). In an embodiment the networking entity starts thetrickle charge process for refreshing the intermediate storage elementbefore the device connects to the local area communication network. Inan embodiment a portion of the refreshed preloaded content is availablewhen the mobile user device connects to the local area communicationnetwork. In an embodiment the portion of the refreshed preloaded contentor discovery priorities are available for fast presentation orconsumption at the mobile user device. In an embodiment the local areacommunication network has higher performance than the wide areacommunication network couple to the intermediate storage element andenables presentation or consumption or preloading onto mobile devicecouple storage of one of more of the preloaded content. In an embodimentthe content consumption from the intermediate storage element orpreloading from the intermediate storage element onto storage closer orcoupled to the user device is not limited by intermediate storagereservoir wide area communication network performance (for examplebandwidth).

In an embodiment a user device is a mobile device and is capable ofconnecting to a wireless wide area communication network (for examplecellular, 2G, 3G, 4G, etc.) and a local area communication network (forexample a home WiFi, POI WiFi, or Bluetooth, etc.).

In an embodiment a network entity preloading management service (forexample a cloud preloading management service) determines an initialpreload content list comprising content to be preloaded onto storageassociated (for example near or coupled or attached or included) to themobile device. In an embodiment the preloading management serviceassists (for example initiates or causes or pushes) content on thepreload content list to be preloaded onto storage associated the device.

In an embodiment the network entity preloading management systemdetermines a user device discovery content offer priority list. In anembodiment the offer priority list may include one or more of a valuemetric based sorting or ranking or a user preference based sorting orranking. In an embodiment the offer priority is based on constraints onone or more of one or more users, the user device, the contentparameters, business rules on the content. In an embodiment the prioritylist highlights on the mobile device (for example on UI) offers toconsume. In an embodiment the priority list highlights preloaded contentfor consumption or use or purchase that is determined to be highpriority content. In an embodiment high priority content is based on avalue metric associated to one or more of a content provider, contentbroker, or user. In an embodiment the high priority content is a subsetof the available preloaded content on the device and is the contentdetermined by one or more of user preferences, expected consumptionstatistics, expected economic return or content consumption/advertisingincentives. In an embodiment an initial on-device discovery contentoffer priority list is sent to the to the user device for presentation(for example display on UI) of offers to a user. In an embodiment thepreloaded content presentation (for example location, font, format,order of presentation of content list on UI) is in accordance withpriority list.

In an embodiment, the network entity preloading management servicecollects additional user preference information (for exampleperiodically, or based on events triggers) from the user device. In anembodiment the user preference information is obtained while connectedto the wide area communication network and is used to determinerefreshed or updated high priority content. In an embodiment therefreshed priority content is a subset of the available preloadedcontent on the user device. In an embodiment the refreshed prioritycontent is determined by a refresh of one or more of user preferences,expected consumption statistics, expected economic return or contentconsumption/advertising incentives.

In an embodiment, the network entity communicates refreshed user devicediscovery UI content offer priority list to the device to re-arrange thepriority of UI display offers to user in accordance with priority list.

Security

In at least one embodiment, a preloaded content is stored at a storageelement in a protected format. In at least one embodiment, a preloadedcontent comprises a portion of a content. In at least one embodiment, apreloaded content is protected to prevent a user from consuming thecontent. In at least one embodiment, a preloaded content is protected toprevent a user from sharing the content. In at least one embodiment, aprotected preloaded content may be consumed or shared following anapproval or authorization. In at least one embodiment the approval orauthorization is obtained from a network entity (for example contentprovider, content broker, etc.). In at least one embodiment thepreloaded content is encrypted. In at least one embodiment the preloadedcontent comprises a digital watermark. In at least one embodiment, thepreloaded content comprises a signature associated to a storage elementor a user device or a user. In at least one embodiment, the preloadedcontent signature may be used to identify an unauthorized copy of thecontent. In at least one embodiment, the user entity requires acertificate from a network entity prior to consumption of the content.In at least one embodiment, a first portion of the content is preloadedin a second portion of the content is preloaded or downloaded after theapproval or authorization or payment. In at least one embodiment, thesecond portion is a small portion of the preloaded content data usage.In at least one embodiment, the storage manager or content manager at anetwork entity or user entity manages security functionality. In atleast one embodiment, a device agent at a user entity authenticates andauthorizes the user entity to consume a content. In at least oneembodiment, a network entity monitors user entity security agents toensure they have not been tampered.

Variable Pricing

For at least some embodiments, a cost for consuming the content is basedon a value metric cost parameter associated with the storage element ora communication network.

In at least one embodiment, the cost to the user (or price offered byservice provider) or consumer for a preloaded content could includestorage or communication network costs. In at least one embodiment thecost or price of a content offered to a user or consumer will varydepending on the storage element or communication network resourcesutilized.

Carrying content from a content source to a user device for presentationmay utilize one or more communication networks. Each of these one ormore communication networks may incur a cost for carrying the content.Moreover, a communication network may be busy or idle at a given timeand the cost of carrying the content may depend on how busy thecommunication network is. In another embodiment carrying content from acontent source to a user device may have more than one choice ofcommunication networks to reach the user device. In at least oneembodiment, the cost or price or value, etc. of the content comprises acost associated with one or more communication networks utilized forcarrying the content from a content source to a user device forconsumption.

FIG. 24 illustrates 4 different options to utilize a given communicationnetwork that may result on variable cost (wherein cost may besubstituted for price, value, etc.) of content presented to a userdevice according to an embodiment. In this embodiment a content may becarried from content server 2400 to user device 100 over the samecommunication network over different timelines or delay, etc. For anembodiment, the topmost option preloads the content in the backgroundwithout a time limit restriction. This may result in efficient use ofthe communication network (for example utilizing the communicationnetwork during off peak hours). For an embodiment, the second option,does not preload the content, but the user selects to have the contentdelivered by the next morning. This option, may allow the communicationnetwork to preload the content in a more efficient way, for exampleutilizing bandwidth during intervals of lower utilization. This optionmay also allow the content to be preloaded with a lower class of QoS(for example best effort). For an embodiment, the 3rd option does notpreload the content but the user selects to have the content deliveredwithin 2 hours. This option has a shorter time line for content loadingbut still allows the communication network to load the content even ifthe speed of the connection is fluctuating, or lower rate than requiredfor a real-time content presentation. For an embodiment, the 4th optionthe content is delivered immediately. This option will be the moststressful on the communication network. In at least one embodiment theprice offered to a user for consuming a content is associated withcommunication network utilization options.

FIG. 25 illustrates 3 different options to preload the content from acontent server 2400 to a user device 100 over three differentcommunication networks according to an embodiment. For an embodiment,communication network 2503 may be a free network (for example homeWiFi). For an embodiment, communication network 2502 may be a low-costnetwork, such as a wired broadband connection to a home. For anembodiment, communication network 2501 may be a high cost network, suchas a home or roaming cellular network. In at least one embodiment, thecost or price or value, etc. of the content comprises a cost associatedwith communication network utilized for carrying the content from acontent source to a user device for consumption.

Carrying content from a content source to a user device for presentationmay utilize one or more storage elements. Each of these one or morestorage elements may incur a cost for storing the content. Moreover, astorage element may be empty or full at a given time and the cost ofstoring the content may depend on the free or available storage in thestorage element. In another embodiment carrying content from a contentsource to a user device may have more than one choice of storageelements to reach the user device.

FIG. 26 shows a Content Server 2400 and a user device 100 associatedwith a large storage 2600 and a small storage 2601 according to anembodiment. For this embodiment the small storage 2601 is included inuser device 100, so that if user device 100 is portable or mobile, thecontents of storage 2601 will be available as the user device 100 ismoving. For this embodiment, the large storage 2600 is not includedwithin user device 100 and may be associated with user device 100, overa communication network. The large storage 2600, may be a home gatewayreservoir or a set top box or a POI access point storage, etc. for thisembodiment a desirable content to be presented at user device 100 may bepreloaded onto large storage 2600 or small device storage 2601.Typically large storage 2600 will have more available storage and have alower cost (or opportunity cost) per gigabyte. Typically small devicestorage 2601 will have less available storage and have a higher cost (oropportunity cost) per gigabyte. Therefore, in an embodiment the cost forconsuming a preloaded content stored in large storage 2600 may be lowerthan the cost for consuming a preloaded content stored in small devicestorage 2601

FIG. 27 is a table that includes a variable price of content preloadedoffered to a user according to an embodiment. In this example, the useris interacting with a smartphone attempting to consume preloaded contentassociated with the smartphone. The smartphone is associated withstorage within the smartphone, storage at home gateway, and storage at ahome set top box (listed under column “storage location”). In thisexample the smartphone is currently not in the coverage area of the homegateway or home set top box communication networks (shown as “N/A”entries in the table). Therefore movie Q and movie R are currently notavailable (listed as “N/A” under column “view now”). In this examplemovie P is available now in 2 formats over an expensive communicationnetwork (for example cellular or roaming). The cost for consuming movieP will be lower if the user waits to go home before viewing, since themovie can be preloaded over a lower cost communication network (forexample home broadband access) or stored on a lower cost storageelement. The cost for consuming movie P maybe even lower if the user iswilling to wait an additional day prior to consumption. In this case,the service provider may schedule a broadcast or multicast of thecontent for preloading (which may allow for sharing of communicationnetwork cost of preloading across multiple users), or preload contentover a very low priority (for example lowest QoS, best effort, etc.)data connection.

In another embodiment, the content may be offered at variable pricebased on one or more communication networks utilized to carry thecontent or based on the time, or the timeline, or the delay, or thestress on one or more of the communication networks utilized to carrythe content, or based on one or more storage elements utilized to storethe content prior to presentation. In another embodiment, in additionthe variable price may include content parameters (for example, HDversus SD format), or user device parameters (for example display size),or user parameters (for example service plan), or content providerparameters (for example price, specials), etc.

For an embodiment, a movie content provider may preload a first set ofmovies over a wired broadband access network to a home gateway storageelement or reservoir, and may preload a second set of movies over acellular access network onto a mobile user device local storage element,and may preload a 3rd set of movies over a WiFi network onto a secondmobile user device storage element. Each of these 3 sets of movies mayincur different cost of the communication network, or the storageelement, or the movie format, etc. These cost parameters may be used tooffer each set at a variable price.

In at least one embodiment, the variable price associated to the contentmay affect the way the content elements are presented to a user. Thevariable price may be used to identify, select, cluster, rank, sort,classify, tier, etc. the content elements. Variable pricing mayinfluence searching, browsing, etc. of the content located at thestorage element. Variable pricing may influence notifications, displays,banners, pop-ups, etc. assisting in content consumption.

In at least one embodiment, if a user shows interest to consume acontent with a given variable price, a notification may be presented tothe user for the same content available at a lower price, by utilizingmore cost-effective storage elements or communication network to storeand transport the content to the user.

In at least one embodiment, if a user shows interest to consume acontent with a given variable price, a notification may be presented tothe user for a comparable content available at a lower price (forexample a movie preloaded at the home gateway when user is at home), byutilizing more cost-effective storage elements or communication networkto store and transport the content to the user.

In at least one embodiment, if a user shows interest to consume acontent with a given variable price, a notification may be presented tothe user for the same contenting a more desirable format for acomparable price, by utilizing more cost-effective storage elements orcommunication network to store and transport the content to the user.

In at least one embodiment, if a user shows interest to consume acontent with a given variable price, a notification may be presented tothe user for the same content for a lower price by delaying access tothe content to a later time (for example reduced stress on communicationnetwork performance) or a later location (for example wait until theuser gets home from work), by utilizing more cost-effective storageelements or communication network to store and transport the content tothe user.

In at least one embodiment, variable pricing content may be used invalue metric preloading selection. In another embodiment, value pricingparameters may be obtained or estimated or computed, etc., from pretestmarket or pretest groups.

In another embodiment, variable pricing of content may include sponsorservices, promotions, coupons, etc. In another embodiment, informationassociated with consumption of content with variable pricing iscollected, processed, etc. In another embodiment, information associatedwith consumption of content with variable pricing is shared with one ormore entities (for example content providers, content broker, POImanagers, etc.).

Presenting Preloaded Ads on User Device

In at least one embodiment, a content preloaded onto a storage elementis or includes an advertisement (ad).

It is to be understood that one or more of the embodiments described fordistribution, preloading, managing, classifying of content canadditional or alternatively be utilized for distribution, preloading,managing, classifying of ads. That is content and ads can beinterchangeably used for the described embodiments. In one embodimentthe content comprises and ad.

A service provider of ads may be called an ad service provider. Aservice provider of content could be a content provider or a contentbroker, or include functionalities of both. Similarly an Ad Serviceprovider could be an ad provider or an ad broker, or includefunctionalities of both.

For an embodiment, the content includes an advertisement, and thisembodiment further includes selecting the advertisement, and assistingin presentation of the advertisement at a user device. For anembodiment, the selecting of advertisement includes selecting frompreloaded advertisements. For another embodiment, the selecting is basedon one or more of user devices, a content being presented, a parameterof a user consuming the content.

There are many embodiments where presenting preloaded ads may beadvantageous. In at least one embodiment, a preloaded ad may bepresented while video streaming is filling up a user device cachewithout waiting for the ad to download. In at least one embodiment, apreloaded ad may be presented when the user device is off-line (forexample not in the coverage area of an ad provider communicationnetwork). In at least one embodiment a preloaded ad may be presentedwhile other ads are being preloaded or downloaded in the background. Inat least one embodiment, a preloaded ad may be presented while other adstargeted to a user are waiting for a more convenient or cost-effectiveor more valuable communication network to be available (for exampleWiFi). In at least one embodiment presenting preloaded ads benefits auser by reducing/delaying/avoiding usage of valuable communicationnetwork bandwidth resources (for example cellular data plan). In atleast one embodiment, presenting of a preloaded ad may be more easilycontrolled (for example by reducing fast forwarding) that if the ad wasembedded in the content. In at least one embodiment, preloading ads onstorage elements associated with the user device may improve the privacyof a user, for example by reducing the amount of information associatedwith the user sent to the network for selecting an ad to be presented tothe user.

Preloading Ads and Preloaded Ads

Typically the population of available ads is very large, and thereforeselecting ads to be preloaded based on value metrics may be beneficial.Preloading selected ads may enable presenting ads that are bettertargeted to an end consumer. Preloading selected ads may enablepresenting ads that are more dynamic than if fixed to associatedcontent. Preloading selected ads may provide better control of thepresentation to an end consumer. Preloading selected ads may enablepresentation of higher quality ads, which otherwise may consume valuablecommunication network resources or may otherwise stall when streamed ormay otherwise take too long to be presented, which may frustrate an endconsumer.

The selection of the ads may be performed by one or more of the networkside entities, for example an ad provider, ad service provider, adbroker, or devices associated with a user or user appliances, forexample a storage element, a user device, etc. Selection of ads by thenetwork entities may have the benefit of offloading hardware resources(for example processor, battery, etc.) of devices associated to a user.Selection of ads by the devices associated to the user may improveprivacy, for example by reducing the amount of information associated toa user or user device with the network. Selection of ads by the storageelement may reduce network chatter, for example when the storage elementis at a POI assisting several user devices or the selection is based onthe aggregate of parameters associated with several user devices.

In at least one embodiment, the value metrics for selecting ads to bepreloaded are based on value metric parameters associated with the ads.Examples of value metric parameters associated with the ads may include:size, type, required throughput, format, ad revenue/cost/profit perpresentation, ad revenue/cost/profit per click, click rate,communication network requirements, user device hardware or softwarerequirements, business rules, associations with content (for example mayor may not be allowed to be presented with specific content), etc. orany other ad parameter for helping ad selection.

In at least one embodiment, the value metrics for selecting ads to bepreloaded are based on value metric parameters associated with one ormore users. Examples of value metric parameters associated with a userinclude: user demographics (for example age, sex, profession, maritalstatus, etc.), user location (for example home, work, POI, locationtrace, past/current/future location, etc.), user history (for exampleprior content interactions, prior ad interactions, etc.), user context(for example talking, walking, driving, working, interacting with userdevice, etc.) user network (for example virtual or real-life, families,friends, colleagues, etc.), etc. or any other user parameters forhelping ad selection.

In at least one embodiment, one or more value metric parametersassociated with a user are abstracted, or parametrized, or clustered,modeled, or classified, etc. from more detailed user parameters forprivacy. In at least one embodiment some parameters of the user may notbe shared with network entities or devices, ad provider, ad serviceprovider, ad broker, etc., for privacy reasons and instead the user maybe assigned into a classification for ad preloading that could be usedfor value metric evaluation without revealing sensitive user parameters.For an embodiment, the age, sex, income, location, etc. user parametersmay be remapped onto value metric parameters that could be exchangedwith network entities or devices for value metric evaluation for adswithout sharing sensitive user information. In another embodiment aportion of the value metrics or value metric parameters are computedlocally (for example user device or storage element) and shared with thenetwork entities.

In at least one embodiment, a value metric for selecting ads to bepreloaded are based on value metric parameters associated with a userdevice. Examples of value metric parameters associated with the userdevice may include: type (for example smart phones, tablets, notebooks,PC, etc.), mobility, hardware capability (for example UI, display,processor, etc.), software capability (for example operating system,applications, content decoders, etc.), or any other user deviceparameters for helping ad selection.

In at least one embodiment, the value metrics for selecting ads to bepreloaded are based on value metric parameters associated with an adprovider. Examples of value metric parameters associated with an adprovider may include: ad revenue, ad campaigns, ad relationships, adprograms, business rules or relationships between the ad provider andcontent providers, business rules or relationships between the adprovider and the user device or the user, etc.

In at least one embodiment, the value metrics for selecting ads to bepreloaded are based on value metric parameters associated a thecommunication network from an ad server to a storage element or thestorage element to a user device. Examples of value metric parametersassociated with the communication network may include: communicationnetwork cost (for example cost per use, cost per time interval,unlimited use, cost over time, cost versus QoS, background/foregroundcost, real-time versus background low bandwidth, etc.), communicationnetwork performance (for example speed, bandwidth, latency, jitter,packet error rate, busy status, etc.), communication networkavailability (for example past/current/future connectivity with a targetuser device for presenting the ad, etc.), etc. or any othercommunication network parameters for helping ad selection.

In at least one embodiment, the value metrics are used for selecting adsto be deleted from a first storage or moved to a second storage element.

In at least one embodiment, the value metrics for selecting ads to bepreloaded are based on value metric parameters associated with a storageelement for preloading the ads. Examples of value metric parametersassociated with a storage element may include: size, available size,type, latency, throughput, access time, communication networkcapability, past/current/future connectivity with ad server or userdevice, etc. or any other storage element parameter for helping adselection.

In at least one embodiment, an ad is preloaded as a separate entity (forexample a separate file) and may be decoupled from other content. In atleast one embodiment, the ad is assigned a tag. This tag may be used toaddress/index/name/point to the ad when exchanging information with anetwork entity, cloud server, client device, a storage element, a userdevice, a presentation of the ad, etc.

In at least one embodiment, a value metric of a previously preloaded adis monitored periodically. In at least one embodiment, the value metricof a previously preloaded ad is reevaluated if a value metric parameterchanges.

In at least one embodiment, a previously preloaded ad may be deletedfrom a storage element or moved to a different storage element based onvalue metrics.

In at least one embodiment, the value metrics for selecting ads to bepreloaded are based on value metric parameters associated with 2 or morestorage elements associated with a user device for preloading the ads.The 2 or more storage elements may be classified or assigned a tierbased on the storage capabilities relative to an ad or a user device,etc. Ads associated with a user device may be distributed over the 2 ormore storage elements based on value metrics.

In at least one embodiment, the value metrics for selecting ads to bepreloaded are based on value metric parameters associated with 2 or morecommunication networks associated with a user device or storage elementfor preloading the ads. The 2 or more communication networks may beclassified based on the communication network parameters relative to anad or the user device, etc. The ads associated with the user device maybe distributed over the 2 or more communication networks based on valuemetrics.

In at least one embodiment an ad provider is assisted by an ad broker.The ad broker may provide infrastructure such as software or hardwarefor the network entities or software or hardware for the user device orstorage elements for assisting or enabling ad selection or ad preloadingor ad deleting or ad moving or ad presentation at a user device. The adbroker may obtain value metric information from users, users devices,storage elements, communication networks, etc., for value metric basedselection or preloading or deleting or moving or presentation of ads.The ad broker may obtain and share value metric information or processor classify value parameters from the users, user devices, storageelements, communication networks, etc., with the ad provider. The adbroker may assist the selection of the ads for preloading, or assist onthe preloading to storage elements, or assist in the insertion orpresentation of the ads at the user device.

In at least one embodiment an ad broker assists a plurality of adproviders in one or more of obtaining value metrics, value metricparameters, value metric parameter relationships, selecting ads based onvalue metrics, preloading selected ads, presenting ads to users orinserting ads in content presented to users. This ad broker service mayincrease the value of ads to one or more of the providers, or to theusers, etc. This ad broker service may simplify the development,management and maintenance of this ad delivery system to one or moreproviders or to one or more users. For an embodiment, network or storageelement or user device software or hardware may be shared across 2 ormore providers. This may result in improved privacy to a user, assensitive user information may be managed by a single entity (forexample ad broker) instead of repeated over multiple providers. In atleast one embodiment the ad broker receives compensation based ondelivering information related to value metrics to the ad provider. Inat least one embodiment the ad broker receives compensation based onselecting or preloading ads for the ad provider. In at least oneembodiment the ad broker receives compensation based on interactions, orpresentation, or consumptions of preloaded ads for the ad provider.

In at least one embodiment, a communication network providersponsors/subsidizes an ad preloading service based on value metrics thatoffload data usage over the communication network or reduces congestionover the commutation network. In at least one embodiment, the useragrees to a service or provides compensation for an ad preloadingservice based on value metrics that may increase the relevance of theads or the quality of the ads or reduce communication network cost orimprove presentation of other content that would otherwise be degradedfrom real-time ad presentation.

In at least one embodiment the ad broker receives variable compensation(for example offers variable price to ad provider) based on value metricparameters associated with the users (for example user demographics,user location, user state, etc.), user devices, storage elements, etc.,associated with the preloaded ads from the ad provider. For anembodiment the ad broker may receive variable compensation based on theuser value metric parameter income, or age, or profession, or hobbies,etc. For an embodiment, the ad broker may receive variable compensationbased on a storage element value metric parameter location: at home, ata store, in a hotel lobby, at a gas station, etc.

In at least one embodiment the value metric is proportional tolikelihood of the ad being presented or viewed or clicked or consumed bya user. In at least one embodiment the value metric is proportional to aprice or revenue or profit collected from the ad being viewed or clickedor consumed by a user.

In at least one embodiment, the value metric parameters or value metricparameter relationships used to obtain a value metric are selected froma user perspective or to favor the user. For an embodiment, selectionand preloading of ads based on this value metric could result inincreased user satisfaction, increased user clicks through, usercompensation for consuming ads, reduce communication network cost,reduce storage element utilization, etc.

In at least one embodiment, the value metric parameters or value metricparameter relationships used to obtain a value metric are selected froman ad provider perspective or to favor the ad provider. For anembodiment, selection and preloading of ads based on this value metriccould result in increased number of relevant ads presented to users,increased ad clicks through, increase purchase of product associated toad, reduced costs, reduce storage element cost, etc.

In at least one embodiment, the value metric parameters or value metricparameter relationships used to obtain a value metric are selected froman ad broker perspective or to favor the ad broker. For an embodiment,selection and preloading of ads based on this value metric could resultin increased revenue, increase revenue from one or more ad providers,profit, user satisfaction, number of ads presented to users, increasedad clicks through, reduced costs, increase revenue from contentassociated to ads, increased commission, increased customers/users, etc.

In at least one embodiment, the ad broker is selecting ads to bepreloaded from a plurality of ad providers and value metrics are basedon the plurality of ad providers. In at least one embodiment the adproviders are competing (for example by ad bidding, ad bonuses, etc. tothe ad broker) on the ad broker assisted system for ad selection, adpreloading or ad presentation, insertion, etc. at user devices. In atleast one embodiment, the value metric parameters or the value metricparameter relationships included in the value metric for selection andpreloading are selected by the ad broker to benefit the broker. For anembodiment, the value metric may select ads based on ad provider bidpricing, ad revenue, ad profit, ad commissions, ad coupons, ad quotas,etc. to benefit the ad broker

In at least one embodiment, an ad selected for preloading onto a storageelement is based on content available on the storage element orassociated storage elements. For an embodiment some ads may havebusiness rules that prevent them or encourage them to be presentedjointly with specific content. For an embodiment, the likelihood of anad being successful presented/inserted may be correlated with a contentbeing presented. Therefore evaluating relationships of an ad withcontent, or preloaded content on a storage element or associated storagemay be beneficial.

Many business relationships or compensation methods between one or moreof a user, a user device, a POI, a POI device, a communication networkprovider, a content provider, a content broker, an ad provider, an adbroker, etc. may be beneficial. In at least one embodiment, anowner/user of a storage element is compensated for storing preloadedads. In at least one embodiment, the ad provider sponsors/subsidizes acommunication network use. In at least one embodiment, the ad providersponsors/subsidizes content or preloaded content. In at least oneembodiment, the ad provider requests an ad broker forservices/assistance on the ad preloading system. In at least oneembodiment, a user is compensated for interacting with an ad.

In at least one embodiment, a user or a user device or storage elementmay need to agree/consent/subscribe to the ad preloading service. In atleast one embodiment, a hardware or software element may beadded/installed at a user device or storage element to enable the adpreloading service. In at least one embodiment, a user may inputrelevant information to assist the preloading service (for exampleinformation that influence value metrics, lists of users, user devices,storage elements, preferences, etc.).

Presenting Ads

Preloaded ads on storage elements associated with a user device may bepresented to a user of the user device. Preloaded ads may be of higherquality (for example richer content) and may be presented almostimmediately (reduced communication network delay) improving usersatisfaction. Preloaded ads may be dynamically presented and targeted toa user, a user device, a user state, etc.

The preloaded ads may be presented in isolation (for example on aseparate window or on a separate application, etc.) or may be presentedby inserting within other content or preloaded content (for exampleembedded in a webpage, movie, etc.), etc. The presentation may be staticor allow for user interaction (for example click, select, browse, etc.).In at least one embodiment, an ad is selected from the plurality ofpreloaded ads for presentation to a user of a user device. In at leastone embodiment the selection is performed by a network entity. In atleast one embodiment, the selection is performed by a device associatedwith a user (for example a user entity). In at least one embodiment, thepreloaded ad selected for presentation is decoupled from a contentpresented at the user device. In at least one embodiment, the preloadedad selected is correlated with a content presented at the user device.In at least one embodiment, preloaded ads may be presented to a userwhen the user device is fully off-line (for example not connected over acommunication network to the ad provider or ad service provider) orpartially off-line (for example connected to the ad service providerover a low quality or expensive communication network exchangingtags/pointers/acknowledgments).

In at least one embodiment, the ad selection for presenting is based ona value metric. The value metric may include one or more parametersrelated to the user, demographics of the user (for example age, sex,profession, income, hobbies, etc.), state of the user (for exampleworking, driving, etc.), location of the user (for example at home, atwork, at coffee shop X, at department store Y, at hospital building Z,etc.), time of day relative to the user (for example early morning,morning, lunch break, afternoon, evening, etc.), date relative to theuser (for example weekend, weekday, special holiday, etc.). The valuemetric may include one or more parameters related to the user device(for example HW capabilities, SW capabilities, SW presently installed inthe device, etc.). For an embodiment, the value metric may includeparameters related to a device entity processor, for example decodingcapability for presenting a compressed ad, or display resolution forpresenting an ad, etc. The value metric may include one or moreparameters related to storage elements (for example available size,cost, mobility, access speed, etc.). The value metrics may include oneor more parameters related to a communication network between the adsource and the ad destination for presentation of the ad (for examplebandwidth/speed, QoS, connectivity/availability status, cost, etc.).

In at least one embodiment a SW required for presenting an ad may bepreloaded. The preloading of this SW required for ad presentation may bebased on a value metric. The value metric for the preloading of the SWrequired for ad presentation may comprise value metric informationrelated to the ad and vice versa, the value metrics for the preloadingof the ad requiring a SW for presentation may comprise value metricinformation related to the SW. The value metrics for the ad and the SWrequired for presentation could be evaluated jointly.

The value metric may include information about the past (for exampleuser ad or content consumption history or location history/trace) or mayinclude information about the present (for example a user currentlocation, a current list of preloaded ads or content, a current list ofstorage elements available to a user device, etc.) or may includeinformation about the future (for example predicting future locationbased on location trace or location history, for example predictingfuture location based on a calendar/schedule, etc.).

In at least one embodiment the ad selection may include deleting adsbased on a value metric or moving ads based on value metric from a firststorage element to a second storage element. For an embodiment, a richcontent ad for a newly released movie may be moved from a smartphone toa home gateway on Monday morning if a user associated with the userdevice typically watches movies Friday/Sat night, and moved back to thesmartphone of Thursday night. For an embodiment, the ad may be removedwhen the movie is no longer playing in theaters.

In at least one embodiment, the ad selection is based on a value metriccomprising user parameters with sensitive user information (for exampleage, income, location, etc.). In an embodiment, the user may notauthorize user parameters containing sensitive user information to beshared outside the user device. For this embodiment, it may be preferredto perform ad selection at the user device or a user entity associatedwith the user. In at least one embodiment, ads may not be preloaded, andthe ad selection based on value metric parameters containing sensitiveuser information may download selected ads dynamically.

In at least one embodiment, content present on storage elementsassociated with the user device is pre-scanned/preprocessed tofacilitate the presentation of ads during the content consumption. Foran embodiment, keywords in the content are searched and correlated withad content. In at least one embodiment, the preloaded contentpre-scanning is performed during user device idle time. In at least oneembodiment, the preloaded content pre-scanning is scheduled for moreefficient use of processor resources.

In at least one embodiment, preloaded ads are inserted into content tobe consumed, wherein the content includes information or business rulesto help insert the preloaded ads. In at least one embodiment, thecontent includes information or business rules to prevent/restrictinsertion of specific preloaded ads (for example parental control).

In at least one embodiment, a content includes default ads, and businessrules that allow for exchanging of the default ads for a more desirablepreloaded ad.

In at least one embodiment, preloaded ads that are presented at a userdevice may be reviewed or revisited, etc. at a later time by a user.

In at least one embodiment, presented ads are monitored or accounted orbilled based on user interaction with the presented ads. In at least oneembodiment, a user is compensated for interacting with presented ads.

In at least one embodiment, an ad is tagged for identification, and thetag information is shared with a network entity (for example adprovider, ad broker, ad service provider, etc.) to reduce communicationnetwork chatter.

FIG. 28 shows an example for displaying a preloaded ad in a webpageaccording to an embodiment. FIG. 28 includes a user device 100, whichincludes a storage element 2801(for example the storage element 2801maybe internal to user device 100 or external to user device 100), adserver 2802 which may be the source of ads or may assist in preloadingads or may assist in selecting ads to be presented; Web server 2803 maybe a source of web content or may assist on merging Web content withads. In the embodiment of FIG. 28, the first step is preloading ads fromad server 2802 onto storage element 2801, the second step is a requestfrom user device 100 Web server 2803 for a webpage which includes a listof ads available to the user device, the 3rd step is a request from Webserver 2803 to ad server for a selection of an ad within the list ofavailable ads to be displayed, the 4th step is a providing from adserver 2802 to web server 2803 an ID/tag for the selected ad, the 5thstep is providing from web server 2803 to user device 100 a webpage witha link/ID/tag for the selected ad to be presented with the webpage.

In at least one embodiment the Web server 2803 could be an app server,or a game server, or a movie server, or a music server, etc. In at leastone embodiment the server could comprise a utility running on the userdevice 100. In at least one embodiment the ad server 2802 and the Webserver 2803 may be co-located or may be the same server.

In related embodiments one or more of the 5 steps may be bypassed orcombined or executed in a different order. For an embodiment steps 3 and4 may not be necessary or may be performed within Web server 2803. Inanother embodiment additional steps may be added, for example a valuemetric parameter may be exchanged between the user device 100 and the adserver 2802 to help selection of valuable preloaded ads. In anotherembodiment the ad server 2802 may delete/move previously preloaded ads.

Although specific embodiments have been described and illustrated, thedescribed embodiments are not to be limited to the specific forms orarrangements of parts so described and illustrated. The embodiments arelimited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed:
 1. A content distribution system, comprising: at leastone network content server coupled over a plurality of communicationnetworks to a user device, wherein a plurality of storage elements areassociated with the user device, wherein the plurality of storageelements comprise an internal storage element that is internal to theuser device and an external storage element that is external to the userdevice, wherein the at least one network content server is connectablethrough a first communication network to the external storage element,wherein the at least one network content server is connectable throughthe second communication network to the internal storage element, andwherein the external storage element is also connected to a localnetwork; the at least one network content server comprising at least oneprocessor configured to: obtain user device parameter information;generate a queue of content for the user device based on parameters of aplurality of available content, and based on storage capabilities of atleast one of the plurality of storage elements associated with the userdevice; assist preloading of at least a first portion of the queue ofcontent of the user device to the external storage element associatedwith the user device through the first communication network based onthe user device parameter information, wherein the preloading isadditionally assisted based at least upon a value metric, wherein thevalue metric is at least partially dependent on a cost of usage of thefirst communication network and a cost of usage of the secondcommunication network, and wherein the cost of usage of the secondcommunication network is greater than the cost of usage of the firstcommunication network; and assist in providing an additional portion ofthe queue of content onto the plurality of storage elements associatedwith the user device through the second communication network, whereinthe at least the first portion of the queue of content is larger thanthe additional portion of the queue of content, wherein data from the atleast the first portion of the queue of content is moved from theexternal storage element to the internal storage element of the mobiledevice through the local network when the mobile device is connected tothe local network, wherein the additional portion of the queue ofcontent in conjunction with the data from the at least the portion ofthe queue of content allows a user to consume one or more content itemsfrom the queue of content.
 2. The content distribution system of claim1, further comprising the network content server receiving selections ofthe queue of content from the user devices, and the network contentserver completing a transaction with a user of the user device.
 3. Thecontent distribution system of claim 1, further comprising the networkcontent server operative to compile analytics of at least one user ofthe user devices, and wherein generating the queue of content for theuser devices is additionally based on the compiled analytics.
 4. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein generating the queue of content for the userdevices is further based on information associated with other contentavailable on at least one of plurality of storage elements associatedthe user device.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein generating the queueof content for user devices is further based on information associatedwith at least one communication network assisting in the preloading theat least the portion of the queue of content, or the information of atleast one of the plurality of storage elements associated with the userdevice.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein the information associatedwith the at least one communication network comprises a communicationnetwork cost of preloading the at least the portion of the queue ofcontent.
 7. The system of claim 5, wherein the information of at leastone of the plurality of storage elements comprises a storage elementcost of storing the preloaded queue of content.
 8. The system of claim1, wherein generating the queue of content for the user device isfurther based on information associated with at least one of the one ormore communication networks assisting in presenting at least a portionof the queue of content at the user devices.
 9. The system of claim 8,wherein the information associated with at least one of the one or morecommunication networks comprises a communication network cost ofpresenting at least a portion of the queue of content.
 10. The system ofclaim 1, further comprising the at least one network content serverdetermining an association of the one of the plurality of storageelements with a second user device, and wherein generating the queue ofcontent for the second user device is further based on the second userdevice or a user associated with the second user device.
 11. The systemof claim 1, further comprising the at least one network content serverdetermining an association of one of the plurality of storage elementswith two or more user devices, and wherein generating the queue ofcontent for each of the two or more user devices is further based on thetwo or more user devices or a plurality of users associated with the twoor more user devices.
 12. The system of claim 1, further comprising theat least one network content server or a processor associated with atleast one of the plurality of storage elements assisting in deleting ofat least a portion of a second content available on the at least one ofthe plurality of storage elements.
 13. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising the at least one network content server or a processorassociated with a first or a second storage element of the plurality ofstorage elements associated with the user device, assisting in moving atleast a portion of a second content available on the first of theplurality of storage elements associated the user device to the secondor the plurality of storage elements associated with the user device.14. The system of claim 1, further comprising the at least one networkcontent server or a processor associated with at least one of theplurality storage elements preloading the at least the portion of thecontent to the at least one of the plurality of storage elements,comprising: classifying each of the plurality of storage elements basedon parameters of the plurality of available content, based on thestorage capabilities, and based on a plurality of user parameters;generating the queue based on the classifications.
 15. The system ofclaim 1, further comprising the at least one network content server or aprocessor associated with at least one of the plurality of storageelements assisting in presentation of information related to the queueof content to the user device associated with the at least one of theplurality of more storage elements.
 16. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising the at least one network content server or a processorassociated with at least one of the plurality of storage elementsobtaining information associated with a value metric for at least onethe plurality of available content based on prior preloading of thecontent, and evaluating interaction with the preloaded content, whereingenerating the queue of content for user device is further based on thevalue metric.
 17. The system of claim 1, further comprising the at leastone network content server or a processor associated with at least oneof the plurality of storage elements operative to: select a firstplurality of storage elements; preload at least a portion of the queueof content onto the first plurality of storage elements, wherein thefirst plurality of storage elements are associated with a firstplurality of user devices; obtain information associated with a valuemetric from the at least a portion of the queue of content preloadedonto the first plurality of storage elements; wherein generating thequeue of content for each of the plurality of user devices is furtherbased on the value metric.
 18. The system of claim 1, wherein the queueof content comprises an advertisement, and further comprising the atleast one network content server or a processor associated with at leastone of the plurality of storage elements operative to: select theadvertisement; assist in presentation of the advertisement to the userdevice.
 19. The system of claim 1, wherein a cost for consuming at leasta portion of the queue of content is based on a cost parameterassociated with at least one of the plurality of storage elements or acommunication network.
 20. A content broker distribution system,comprising: at least one network content server coupled over a pluralityof communication networks to a user device, wherein a plurality ofstorage elements are associated with the user device, wherein theplurality of storage elements comprise an internal storage element thatis internal to the user device and an external storage element that isexternal to the user device, wherein the at least one network contentserver is connectable through a first communication network to theexternal storage element, wherein the at least one network contentserver is connectable through the second communication network to theinternal storage element, and wherein the external storage element isalso connected to a local network; the at least one network contentserver comprising at least one processor operative to: obtain storageelement value metric information of the plurality of storage elements;obtain user device parameter information; generate a queue of contentfor the user device based on parameters of a plurality of availablecontent, and based on the storage element value metric information;assist a content provider in preloading at least a first portion of aqueue of content onto the external storage element associated with theuser device through the first communication network based on the userdevice parameter information, wherein the preloading is additionallyassisted based at least upon a value metric, wherein the value metric isat least partially dependent on a cost of usage of the firstcommunication network and a cost of usage of the second communicationnetwork, and wherein the cost of usage of the second communicationnetwork is greater than the cost of usage of the first communicationnetwork; and assist in providing an additional portion of the queue ofcontent onto the plurality of storage elements associated with the userdevice through the second communication network, wherein the at leastthe first portion of the queue of content is larger than the additionalportion of the queue of content, wherein data from the at least thefirst portion of the queue of content is moved from the external storageelement to the internal storage element of the mobile device through thelocal network when the mobile device is connected to the local network,wherein the additional portion of the queue of content in conjunctionwith the data from the at least the portion of the queue of contentallows a user to consume one or more content items from the queue ofcontent.
 21. A method of distributing content over one or morecommunication networks, comprising: generating, by at least one networkcontent server, a queue of content for a user device based on parametersof a plurality of available content, and based on storage capabilitiesof at least one of a plurality of storage elements associated with theuser device; assisting, by the at least one network content server,preloading of at least a first portion of the queue of content of theuser device to an external storage element associated with the userdevice through a first communication network based on the user deviceparameter information, wherein the external storage element is alsoconnected to a local network, wherein the preloading is additionallyassisted based at least upon a value metric, wherein the value metric isat least partially dependent on a cost of usage of the firstcommunication network and a cost of usage of the second communicationnetwork, and wherein the cost of usage of the second communicationnetwork is greater than the cost of usage of the first communicationnetwork; and assist in providing an additional portion of the queue ofcontent onto the plurality of storage elements associated with the userdevice through a second communication network, wherein the at least thefirst portion of the queue of content is larger than the additionalportion of the queue of content, wherein data from the at least thefirst portion of the queue of content is moved from the external storageelement to the internal storage element of the mobile device through thelocal network when the mobile device is connected to the local network,wherein the additional portion of the queue of content in conjunctionwith the data from the at least the portion of the queue of contentallows a user to consume one or more content items from the queue ofcontent.
 22. A method of a user device receiving content over aplurality of communication networks, comprising: receiving over theplurality of communication networks a plurality of available contentfrom at least one network content server, wherein the at least onenetwork content server is coupled over the plurality of communicationnetworks to a user device, wherein a plurality of storage elements areassociated with the user device, wherein the plurality of storageelements comprise an internal storage element that is internal to theuser device and an external storage element that is external to the userdevice, wherein the at least one network content server is connectablethrough a first communication network to the external storage element,wherein the at least one network content server is connectable throughthe second communication network to the internal storage element, andwherein the external storage element is also connected to a localnetwork; obtaining user device parameter information; generating, asdirected by software operable on the user device, a queue of content forthe user device based on parameters of a plurality of available content,and based on storage capabilities of at least one of the plurality ofstorage elements associated with the user device; assisting, as directedby the software operable on the user device, preloading at least a firstportion of the queue of content to the external storage elementassociated with the user device through the first communication networkbased on the user device parameter information, wherein the preloadingis additionally assisted based at least upon a value metric, wherein thevalue metric is at least partially dependent on a cost of usage of thefirst communication network and a cost of usage of the secondcommunication network, and wherein the cost of usage of the secondcommunication network is greater than the cost of usage of the firstcommunication network; and assist in providing an additional portion ofthe queue of content onto the plurality of storage elements associatedwith the user device through the second communication network, whereinthe at least the first portion of the queue of content is larger thanthe additional portion of the queue of content, wherein data from the atleast the first portion of the queue of content is moved from theexternal storage element to the internal storage element of the mobiledevice through the local network when the mobile device is connected tothe local network, wherein the additional portion of the queue ofcontent in conjunction with the data from the at least the portion ofthe queue of content allows a user to consume one or more content itemsfrom the queue of content.
 23. A non-transitory computer readablestorage media readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program ofinstructions executable by the machine to perform a method ofdistributing content over one or more communication networks, the methodcomprising: obtaining user device parameter information; generating aqueue of content for a user device based on parameters of a plurality ofavailable content, and based on storage capabilities of at least one ofa plurality of storage elements associated with the user device;assisting preloading of at least a first portion of the queue of contentof the user device to an external storage element associated with theuser device through a first communication network based on the userdevice parameter information, wherein the external storage element isalso connected to a local network, wherein the preloading isadditionally assisted based at least upon a value metric, wherein thevalue metric is at least partially dependent on a cost of usage of thefirst communication network and a cost of usage of the secondcommunication network, and wherein the cost of usage of the secondcommunication network is greater than the cost of usage of the firstcommunication network; and assist in providing an additional portion ofthe queue of content onto the plurality of storage elements associatedwith the user device through a second communication network, wherein theat least the first portion of the queue of content is larger than theadditional portion of the queue of content, wherein data from the atleast the first portion of the queue of content is moved from theexternal storage element to the internal storage element of the mobiledevice through the local network when the mobile device is connected tothe local network, wherein the additional portion of the queue ofcontent in conjunction with the data from the at least the portion ofthe queue of content allows a user to consume one or more content itemsfrom the queue of content.